Top Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Movies Based on True Stories

Sajeesh Philip

Published in

TrueStoryMovies

4 min readMay 2, 2016

This list is originally published on True Story Movie Blog

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Dwayne Johnson also known by his ring name ‘The Rock’ is an American-Canadian actor, producer and semi resigned professional wrestler signed with WWE. He is celebrating his 44th birthday on this May 2nd.

Dwayne came into acting in the year 2000 with the Movie Longshot. From then he has acted in over 25 movies. There are three movies to his filmography account which are based on true stories.

1. Snitch ( 2013 )

Snitch released in February 2013 was directed by RIC Roman Waugh . The movie is about a father going undercover for the DEA to protect his son who was imprisoned after being set up in a drug deal.

Dwayne played the role of the dad and Rafy gavron played the son. The movie unlike other Johnson movies showed the true actor in him rather than an action hero. It was a step forward role in his career.

Throughout Snitch, one question keeps entering the mind: Really? This is a true story? Could somebody be really this stupid? Here is this man trying to save his son but in a way that seems guaranteed to get himself and his whole family killed. But sometimes real life is stranger than fiction.

Director : Ric Roman Waugh
Writers : Justin Haythe, Ric Roman Waugh
Music : Antonio Pinto
Budget : $35 million
Box office : $57.8 million
Year : 2013

2. Gridiron Gang ( 2006 )

Gridiron Gang released in 2006 is loosely based on the true story of the Kilpatrick Mustangs during the 1990 season. The movie is directed by Phil Joanou.

The movie is about teenagers at a juvenile detention center and their counselor who help them gain self esteem by playing foot ball together.

Based on a true story, Gridiron Gang sends out a message that one man can make a difference and the most hopeless kids in our society can change the course of their lives through hard work, commitment and bold leadership.

The film chronicled the teams 1990 Cinderella season, the camps first with an 11-man high-school-level football team. That year, coaches Sean Porter and Malcolm Moore led their team (which was comprised of hardened juvenile offenders) through a monumental season, during which they shook off their early losses and reached the regions championship game against Montclair Prep High School.

Although Montclair Prep had lost only three games in the past four years, the Camp Kilpatrick Mustangs held them to a hard-fought 13–7 Montclair win a game many say the Mustangs could have won except for a series of unfortunate penalties and mistakes late in the fourth quarter. By making it through even one game, however, the Mustangs had already proven themselves winners.

Director: Phil Joanou
Screenplay: Jeff Maguire, Jac Flanders
Music director: Trevor Rabin
Budget : $30 million
Box office : $41,480,851 million
Year : 2006

3. Empire State ( 2013 )

Empire State is a 2013 American crime drama film based on a true story centered on two childhood friends who rob an armored car depository, and the NYPD officer who stands in their way. The movie was directed by Dito Montiel.

The movie never got a theater release and was released directly to DVD and Bluray.

The film Empire State chronicles the facts of the real-life heist which resulted in the theft of $11 million from the deposits of the Sentry armored company in New York City in 1982.

Potamitis, after spending nine years in jail, decided to make a movie about his life and the robbery to show that “people make mistakes and they pay for them”. He coproduced and coscripted the movie based on his life.

Director: Dito Montiel
Writer: Adam Mazer
Budget : $11 million
Box office : $3.7 million (DVD sales)
Year : 2013