John Cena has landed the lead role in Universal's upcoming action thriller, The Janson Directive, that his former WWE rival, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson will executive produce.

The Janson Directive is based on a novel of the same name by Jason Bourne author Robert Ludlum. The book follows Paul Janson, an ex-Navy SEAL and former member of a secret government organization, who becomes a security consultant and takes on a job rescuing an important man. Janson is then targeted after the mission fails and then begins to uncover a government scandal.

Johnson was originally attached to star but decided to move into an executive producer role due to his busy schedule, Variety reported. Johnson is executive producing through his Seven Bucks Productions company alongside Dany Garcia.

Johnson announced Cena's casting on Instagram alongside a video of himself congratulating the WWE Superstar and recounting the pair's main event bout at WrestleMania 29.

"Found my star! Congrats to my good bud John Cena on landing the lead role for our movie. A project that myself, @sevenbucksprod, our production partners and Universal Studios have been developing for years now. Congrats man and I'm excited to go on this journey with you. Thank you for your commitment to the role and remember, as your producer if you screw up, I'm coming to set and droppin' the People's Elbow on ya. And you know first hand how devastating my elbow drops can be. Congrats my friend and let's make a good one," Johnson said, in reference to one of finishing moves in WWE, The People's Elbow.

Cena was last seen in Universal comedy Blockers. He will star in Paramount's upcoming Transformers spinoff, Bumblebee.
By Wade Sheridan, UPI.com

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