Dwayne Johnson to play Chicken Man in Benny Safdie’s next project, ‘Lizard Music’
Dwayne Johnson has confirmed he is set to play Chicken Man in Benny Safdie’s next movie, Lizard Music.
The upcoming movie is an adaptation of a Daniel Pinkwater novel, which tells the story of a lonely child named Victor who bizarrely becomes best friends with a 70-year-old Chicken Man, who will be played by Johnson.
During a career retrospective at the Toronto International Film Festival, which will also screen his new movie The Smashing Machine, also directed by Safdie, Johnson explained how his role as Chicken Man in Lizard Music was born, sharing, “Benny pitched me this after.” He added, “And after about 45 minutes, this pitch ended and I said, ‘I am your Chicken Man.'”
For the role, Johnson has had to embark upon an intense weight loss regime, but admits, “I still have a long ways to go.”
While it’s a different kind of body transformation than The Smashing Machine, Johnson is looking forward to the process nonetheless, adding, “I’m so excited to get a chance to hopefully transform again like I was able to do in Smashing Machine.” However, ironically, Johnson notes that playing the Chicken Man means “eating less chicken”.
Johnson also touched upon The Smashing Machine, which was a welcome opportunity for him to flex his acting muscles away from big-budget action movies, stating in Toronto, “I felt for a few years, I was pigeonholed because I allowed it to happen. Smashing Machine is for me.”
Last week, at the Venice Film Festival, Johnson was moved to tears when The Smashing Machine was greeted with a 15-minute standing ovation in Italy. Director Safdie was also awarded the ‘Silver Lion for Best Director’ at the film ceremony, and Johnson has thrust himself into the Oscars conversation with his performance.
The Smashing Machine will be released in cinemas on October 3rd.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.