At this year’s D23 Expo, Deadline interviewed Dwayne Johnson, who discussed his upcoming role in Lizard Music, a live-action family film from director Benny Safdie. The film is Johnson’s second collaboration with the director, having previously starred as Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie’s first solo effort after ending his creative collaboration with his brother, Josh Safdie.
“We’re in full production. It’s called Lizard Music; I’m with Benny Safdie again. That’s my guy,” Johnson said when first discussing the film. Johnson then described the film, saying, “Imagine Willy Wonka but from the mind of Benny Safdie.”
Johnson also described his role in the film by saying:
“And I play a septuagenarian man. Now, I didn’t know what the hell that meant. So, I had to Google it, it means you’re in your 70s. So, we transform, and it’s five hours of makeup every day. We’re with Kazu Hiro, who is a legend in Hollywood. He was also nominated for Smashing Machine for our prosthetics, and he is helping me transform.”
Johnson then concluded his discussion of the film, saying:
“So far, we’re in our second week, and it has already been an unbelievable experience. It’s that thing I was telling the kids, ‘Run towards that thing.’ This is that thing that I ran towards and chased the challenge, and this was a challenge for me. I love Benny; he’s one of my best friends and most embraced collaborators, so I can’t wait for you to see it.”
Amazon MGM Studios is set to release Lizard Music. It is based on a children’s book of the same name by Daniel Pinkwater. Deadline previously interviewed Benny Safdie, who described the film’s plot as being about “a kid who discovers an island of lizards that are sentient, and they play music, they have broadcast TV. And they want him to come and see them. And he teams up with the Chicken Man, who Dwayne plays, and they go on this adventure to find the land of the lizards.”
Leave a Comment