The Scorpion King predicted how The Rock and movies work, 20 years ago

The opening sequence of The Scorpion KingBronze Age barbarian camp commemorates Jesup’s capture (Branscombe-Richmond), who was the only survivor of Akkadian tribal rival. Flagons will be raised. The men are fervent, battle-hardened and filthy. Half-nude women pose like they’re sitting for Frank Frazetta portraits. Just before the barbarian chieftain can execute his prisoner, an interloper crashes into the scene, setting up the film’s first big action setpiece. The intruder is Jesup’s half-brother, Mathayus (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), whose chiseled, 6-foot-5 frame is lit and framed for maximum ogling potential. His first line, given to a roomful of startled warriors and their party guests: “Boo.” A melee ensues, a star is born — and so is the modern blockbuster. Although no one realized it, The Scorpion KingIt was a strangely timely prediction. This looks like an example of a movie that was dominating at the box office.

It was twenty years ago that The Scorpion KingJohnson, who was a well-known professional wrestler, made his debut in theaters. He was a multiple-time WWF champ with sufficient mainstream star power for the show to be broadcast live. Saturday Night Live. But he wasn’t a movie actor yet. His first film role was as Mathayus in 2001’s The Mummy Returns, where he gives a wordless performance that’s mostly buried under layers of hideous, PlayStation 2-cutscene-style CGI. You can watch the entire thing in In The Scorpion KingHe reprises the role. But except for a few clumsy bits of dialogue about how “the blood of the scorpion will always flow in his veins,” this version of Mathayus stands alone.

“The Rock has the authority to play the role and the fortitude to keep a straight face,” Roger Ebert wrote in his three-star review of the film. “I expect him to become a durable action star.” The fruition of Ebert’s prophecy, as Johnson rose to become one of the most recognizable and bankable action-movie stars in America, is just one of several ways The Scorpion KingIt was predicted that blockbuster movies would be the norm for at least two more decades.

Universal Pictures

A few snarky bits of CGI may be a part of the mix, but that’s about it. The Scorpion King This is a classic piece of filmmaking. Helmed by veteran director Chuck Russell, it sits in a lineage that includes the Technicolor Biblical epics of the ’50s and ’60s and the pulpy sword-and-sorcery flicks of the ’80s. The story is flimsy and comfortingly familiar — a noble warrior is tasked with killing a sorceress whose magic aids a tyrant, but they fall in love instead, teaming up to usurp the throne.

Russell captures the film with scenic delight. There are only a few breaks between scenes of derring-do and swordplay. The film it most resembles is John Milius’ 1982 adaptation of Conan the BarbarianThe title role was played by a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Like Johnson, Schwarzenegger wasn’t cast for his acting chops so much as the way his bodybuilder’s physique looked on celluloid. Both men gave remarkable performances and paved the way for Hollywood.

In-jokes aside, Johnson is still best known for being a wrestler. The Scorpion King’s script. In an early scene where Mathayus arrives in the harem of the despotic Memnon (Steven Brand), the tyrant’s concubines stealthily steal his weapons, so when the palace guards enter, he has to wrestle them. Mathayus defeats Nubian warrior Balthazar in a later fight. Their swords immediately erupt on impact and the two men must grapple for several minutes.

Mathayus will sometimes only wrestle with dudes because it is what he enjoys, even while he has his bow and his sword behind him. Russell’s camera in these scenes is kinetic without being frantic, and the moments when The Scorpion King turns into what the Coen brothers’ Barton Fink called “wrestling pictures” are among the best things about the movie.

But the movie did help expand the opportunities available for wrestlers-turned-actors like Dave Bautista and John Cena, men who were once cast for their brawny bodies, but now work consistently in major movies, crossing genre lines in the process. Although both have become better actors than Johnson’s, Johnson’s movie star charisma is still more impressive. The act of casting a wrestler in a movie used to feel like a reflexive gag — think Andre the Giant playing a giant in 1987’s The Princess Bride, or Roddy Piper in 1988’s They are aliveNearly ten minutes spent on a plot by an alien to wrestle Keith David. This kind of career cross-over feels very normal today.

The Scorpion King’s place in the cultural firmament seemed unremarkable in 2002. This was a spinoff from a popular action series with a charismatic star and an easy-going screenplay that played to its strengths. These movies were made by a dozen studios every year. Most of them found large audiences that would keep them coming back. The Scorpion King It earned $180 million on a $60m budget. Universal realized a nice profit, and Johnson became the highest-paid actor in his first lead role. Three weeks after the film’s release, everything changed.

Universal Pictures

Sam Raimi, a superhero filmmaker and actor, launched his trilogy on May 3, 2002. Spider-ManUneasy companion piece The Scorpion King. Both films handed the keys of PG-13 popcorn franchises to directors who’d made their names with ’80s horror films. Russell directed and produced the highly-acclaimed third installment of the trilogy. Nightmare on Elm Street series as well as its 1988 remake Blob. Raimi was the lo fi wizard behind the Evil Dead films.) Both films launched their marketing campaigns with extremely-of-their-time alt-rock songs, with The Scorpion King tapping Godsmack for “I Stand Alone,” and members of Nickelback and Saliva teaming up to write “Hero” for Spider-Man.

They both knew when to laugh and took inherently absurd material very seriously. It’s not like that The Scorpion King, though, Spider-ManThe business of moviemaking was redefined when he made $825m and set the scene for Marvel Cinematic Universe which debuted six years later. (This is the way). The Scorpion Kingwas quickly overshadowed in a superhero film is possibly the only way that it was more ahead of its times as a blockbuster movie.

Soon, movies like “The Incredibles” were being pushed aside by the superhero genre. The Scorpion KingOut of the cinemas. Mathayus, his associates and others saw that exploiting IP was more profitable than creating new characters. The Scorpion King There were a few direct-to-video sequels to the film, but none of them starred Johnson. Marvel adaptations accounted for five out of six highest domestic box office grossing films in 2021. Sixth place was F9: The Fast SagaThe latest film in the franchise, “The Last of Dwayne Johnson”, is the latest. The style of filmmaking that helped make Johnson a movie star was going extinct — but he found a way to transcend it.

By 2005, Johnson had shed “The Rock” from his stage name, rightly assuming that name recognition for his movies was quickly outpacing his wrestling fame. He joined the cast of the Fast & Furious Series, headlined by his own franchise JumanjiFilms like led movies Pain & Gain SkyscraperHe even made an unexpected Disney Star with his voice in animated film Moana And the Indiana JonesThrowback Jungle Cruise. These are the most trusted film franchises other than Star Wars and MCU might be “movies with Dwayne Johnson in them.”

Dwayne was certain to become a star but it wasn’t impossible for him to get his first role as a lead actor. However, The Scorpion KingIt was at the beginning of an era in blockbuster moviemaking, and it is certainly prophetic for its huge casting bet. It also predicted modern cinema’s mania for interconnected worlds, prequel spinoffs, and the tendency to take even vanishingly minor characters from successful franchises and build entire universes around them.

Mathayus didn’t end up anchoring a cinematic Mummy-Verse, however, in retrospect the guiding principles behind The Scorpion King look a lot like the logic that led to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and to Disney Plus’ hugely popular MCU and Star Wars spinoff shows. Hawkeye is the Mathayus, but who are they? Avengers?) The Scorpion King It is also an enjoyable movie by itself, a fast 92 minute adventure film with memorable characters and a sharp fight choreography.

It’s no masterpiece, but it’s the kind of movie that we used to take for granted, until it became an endangered species. Multiplexes in today’s world are continually presenting too-big-to fail spectacles. Marathon runtimes and hulking leads are just a few of the many perks that come with this universe. The Scorpion King seems quaint by comparison. It is a film that was made in an older era, but it did help to plant the seeds of the current era.

The Scorpion King It is now streaming on HBO Max. You can also rent or buy it. Amazon, VuduOther digital platforms.