Dwayne Johnson continues side-stepping family films with new action thriller Snitch

Thankfully, it seems like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has been heeding the call of action fans everywhere by steering clear of family film tripe and taking on instead movies that allow him to pummel and kill folks with a little bit of style. Now I may have mentioned this before, but FAST FIVE is going to be an important “make him or break him” film for Johnson in terms of what caliber of action films he’ll be able to make in the future. So I’m crossing my fingers hard for that one to shine (and thankfully, it’s looking good). But meanwhile, The People’s Champion is already lining up his next project – an action thriller titled SNITCH.

According to THR, the film – based on a “Frontline” documentary – “centers on a suburban father who is hit hard when his teenage son is sentenced to 30 years under mandatory minimum drug laws. In order to reduce his son’s sentence, the father goes undercover to serve up a senior drug dealer.” Stunt guy-turned-director Ric Roman Waugh (FELON) will helm the picture and also rewrite the script (originally penned by REVOLUTIONARY ROAD’s Justin Haythe).

The “Frontline” piece this is based on is an interesting one because it touches on issues of institutional malpractice on the part of the police. Issues covered by David Simon on HBO’s “The Wire”, where statistics and the political perception of success trumped actual, real police work. Whether those themes will be explored by this film is anyone’s guess (unlikely since it’s being touted as an action film).

SNITCH is hoping to begin production this June.