Before Starring Alongside Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson Lost Out on a $27M Movie Role to Wrexham’s Millionaire Co-owner

Dwayne Johnson is currently one of the biggest and most popular names in the entertainment industry. After joining WWE and making a name there, he transitioned his career to Hollywood and went on to become one of the highest-paid stars. Over the years, Johnson has starred in several commercially successful films. However, a few years ago, the 50-year-old missed out on a popular film role losing to one of his close friends, Ryan Reynolds.

In 2019, Ryan Reynolds starred in the well-loved movie, Detective Pikachu. The movie was a major hit and was well-loved by the fans and critics alike. Reynolds voiced the titular character, ‘Pikachu’ as an intelligent talking Pokemon.

However, as per director Rob Letterman, the role was previously matched with the voices of Danny DeVito, Mark Wahlberg, and Dwayne Johnson. This means Johnson’s fans could have witnessed him voicing the ever-so-popular Pokemon, Pikachu.

Letterman further explained why they chose Reynolds instead of Johnson. He said, “We needed somebody who’s incredibly funny but could be grounded and dramatic, and have the combination of irreverence and heart.”

Wrexham’s millionaire owner Ryan Reynolds was paid a massive salary of $27 million for this. And Johnson missed out on this opportunity of earning this figure and voicing the famous character.

What are the other popular film roles Dwayne Johnson missed out on playing?

The former WWE superstar is one of the most popular entities on the planet. He earned his fame from his time in WWE and utilized it to make it big in Hollywood. Despite being a part of several highly successful films, Johnson also missed out on several of those.

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The 2014 film, Ride Along starred Ice Cube, and Kevin Hart. However, the film roles were originally offered to Dwayne Johnson as the tough cop, and Reynold as his sister’s boyfriend. The 50-year-old also lost a role in The Transformers movie to Mark Wahlberg. However, the most shocking one might come as, Dwayne Johnson as Willy Wonka.

For the 2005 film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Johnson was the second choice to play Willy Wonka. However, the role was taken up by Johnny Depp, and he turned it into one of his most iconic roles.

Johnson is next slated to star alongside Chris Evans in Red One, which is scheduled to release later this year during the Holiday season. Fans are excited to see Black Adam and Captain America actors share the screen for the first time ever.

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