At this rate, Dwayne Johnson's IMDB *future* resume will soon start to look like Will Smith's, with oodles and oodles of projects he's attached to, that may or may not happen.

Variety says that the muscle-bound hero is in talks to star in Michael Bay's first non-Transformers movie since that franchise began in 2007. 4 years later, the director is finally moving onto something else.

This time it's a dark comedy set in the world of bodybuilding titled Pain And Gain.

Mark Wahlberg is also said to be in the running to star alongside The Rock in what is being described as Bay's "low-budget" project (low budget by Michael Bay's standards anyway).

The synopsis for the film, which is based on a Miami New Times article from 1999, reads as follows:

… will follow a pair of Florida bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.

The script was penned by the pair who wrote the Captain America screenplay, and is being compared in tone to the Coen brothers' Fargo.

The Rock has been working practically non-stop since shooting Fast Five, which was released earlier this year. Upcoming, he recently wrapped production on G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation; he's already attached to 2 more Fast & Furious flicks, as well as Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and an action thriller titled Snitch, which will also styar Michael K. Williams.

With Pain and Gain expected to start production in the spring, it looks like The Rock won't be taking any time off anytime soon. Although, if I were him, I'd be a little concerned about over-exposing myself at this point, after starring in 5 movies in the last year and a half, and another 5 or 6 scheduled to be released in the next year or so.

The again… what do I know?

I gotta say though that the story for Pain And Gain (and its potential cast) sounds like it could be a trip worth taking, even with Michael Bay at the helm. I'm curious…