Part of Fast & Furious featuring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, and Tyrese Gibson.
Rise to Fame
The first version of The Rock was a disaster. WWE debuted him in 1996 as 'Rocky Maivia,' a plucky babyface with a smile nobody bought. Crowds started chanting 'Die Rocky Die.' He took the heel turn, came back as a sneering, third-person-spouting villain, and suddenly everyone was paying attention. The Mummy Returns (2001) got him a cameo; the standalone Scorpion King the following year paid him $5.5 million, a Guinness record for a first-time lead. Turns out 'Die Rocky Die' was just bad timing.
In the Spotlight
His films have grossed over $15 billion combined, which makes him roughly bulletproof on studio budgets. The contradiction is The Smashing Machine (2025): a Benny Safdie film that earned him his first Golden Globe nomination and opened to $5.9 million, his lowest ever. The fans who made him rich didn't show up. The awards crowd that passed on him for two decades finally noticed. Meanwhile, Teremana Tequila crossed 1 million cases annually by 2023, outselling Casamigos. He's building things that don't need a movie to succeed.
Side Notes
Seven Bucks Productions takes its name from what was in his wallet when the Calgary Stampeders cut him from their CFL roster in 1995. He grew up moving through 13 states and 4 high schools, and has said police arrested him around eight or nine times by 17, mostly for fighting and petty theft. His father was Black Nova Scotian boxer Rocky Johnson, who sparred with George Foreman in 1974; his maternal grandfather was Samoan wrestling legend Peter Maivia. The wrestling was always going to happen.