John Cena is in talks to star in Paramount’s “Duke Nukem” movie, a big-screen version of the long-running video game franchise.
The project is set up at Paramount-based Platinum Dunes, which is operated by Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller. No director or writer is attached yet.
Duke Nukem first appeared in the 1991 eponymous video game, developed by Apogee Software, as a muscular cigar-chomping man who always wears Ray-Bans and sports a flat-top haircut as he fights aliens to save planet Earth by using enormous physical strength and his expertise in firearms. He’s appeared in 19 video games as the title character, most recently in “Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour.”
Platinum Dunes franchises include “The Purge,” “Ouija,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” It’s a producer on John Krasinski’s horror movie “A Quiet Place,” opening April 6.
Cena made his name as a WWE star before starting another career as a movie actor more than a decade ago with “The Marine” in 2006. His credits include “12 Rounds,” “Legendary,” “The Reunion,” “Trainwreck,” “Sisters,” “Daddy’s Home,” “Daddy’s Home 2,” and “The Wall,” along with voicing the lead character in the animated comedy “Ferdinand.”
Cena is starring with Hailee Steinfeld in Paramount’s upcoming Transformers prequel “Bumblebee: The Movie,” with Bay producing. He is repped by ICM Partners.