John Cenahas certainly made his mark on Hollywood in the last 20 years, following in the footsteps of fellow wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to carve out a successful acting career. But his movie debut, much likeJohnson’s derided appearance in The Mummy Returns, was a rough start in the world of cinema. In fact, his first film was highly criticized back in 2006, but has now become a huge hit thanks to Netflix.
The Marine
After his successful time as a wrestler, Cena decided to exploit his popularity and make the leap to the big screen, playing John Triton inThe Marine, an action film directed by John Bonito. Unfortunately, the film was not very well received, at least by critics. OnRotten Tomatoes, the movie holds a pretty dismal 17% approval rating, while the consensus notes that the movie is either “so bad it’s good or just really, really bad.” In contrast to this, audiences have viewed the movie in a more favorable light, gifting it a 60% score.
The Marinefollows the story of soldier John Triton, who returns from Iraq to discover that his wife has been kidnapped by a criminal gang led by a dangerous man. To rescue her, Triton must put into practice everything he has learned, and reconcile with his past. The movie also stars Robert Patrick, Kelly Carlson, Anthony Ray Parker, Abigail Bianca, Damon Gibson, Manu Bennett, Jerome Ehlers, Drew Powell, Firass Dirani, Frank Carlopio, Jeff Chase, and Jamal Duff.
Despite the film being both a critical and financial failure on its release, grossing barely $22 million dollars,The Marinewas the beginning of a franchisethat included five other films released direct to video, starring other former fighters such as Ted DiBiase Jr and Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, as well as stars including Michael Rooker, Temuera Morrison and Melissa Roxburgh.
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Little by little,Cena has become a popular name in Hollywood, participating in major franchises such asTransformersandFast & Furious as well as finding a home in the DC franchise asChristopher “Peacemaker” Smith in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squadand its spin-off series bearing his character’s name. 2023 was one of his busiest years yet, with the actor releasing six films:Fast X,Barbie,Hidden Strike,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,Vacation Friends 2, andFreelance.
In 2024, he has two films confirmed to be released so far. First up is Matthew Vaughn’sArgylle, which also stars Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sofia Boutella. He’s also part of the cast of Peter Farrelly’sRicky Stanicky, along with Zac Efron, Jermaine Fowler, Andrew Santino, Lex Scott Davis, William H. Macy, and Anja Savcic.
Coyote vs. Acmeis another project which Cena already has in the can. However, the live-action/animation hybrid movie featuring the classic Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote was temporarily shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery, seemingly set to follow movies likeBatgirlinto the void of tax write-offs. In a subsequent turn of events, and in the face of another wave of backlash on social media,the studios appeared to regret the decisionand decided to look for a buyer for the movie instead. Presently, the movie has not found a new home, and only time will tell if that project ever makes it out of its state of limbo.
