Dwayne Johnson has signed up to produce and potentially star in a New Line pick-up that's said to be based on an illustration. Yes, just a single illustration. Ideas can come from anywhere, right? Even Twitter accounts, as we've seen in the past.
To be co-produced by Beau Flynn, the illustration in question was drawn by a Greek software engineer turned artist, named Alex Panagopoulos, and, as THR states, "features a little girl asleep in bed while a small brown teddy bear – brandishing a laughably small wooden sword and shield – holds an enormous, fanged monster at bay."
The caption at the bottom of the illustration reads "Teddy Bears: Protecting innocent children from monsters under the bed since 1902."
And BOOM, just like that, we have a big-budgeted fantasy movie, starring an A-lister! See how easy that is? So what're you doing? Get to work…
So how did Panagopoulos' picture make its way to Newline and Dwayne Johnson?
As THR summarizes, Hiram Garcia, a former assistant to Dwayne Johnson, found the illustration and brought it to the attention of producer Beau Flynn, as well as New Line. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation, to listen to the pitch.
The film adaptation of Panagopoulos' illustration will tentatively be called: Teddy Bear.
Obviously, tentatively is the key word there…
The project is currently being packaged with behind-the-scenes talent, and there's no synopsis yet. But New Line is said to be looking at this as a major franchise for them.
The last time a Teddy Bear played a crucial role in a Hollywood movie, it was titled Ted, and it grossed over $500 million worldwide for Universal last summer.