Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s co-star says Southland Tales would’ve made big money today.
Southland Tales is a 2006 dystopian dark comedy film directed by Richard Kelly. WWE legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson starred, while Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Christopher Lambert, Amy Poehler, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake were part of the ensemble cast. The Rock played the role of Boxer Santaros, an amnesiac action star. Santaros crosses paths with a porn star (Gellar) developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman (Scott) holding the key to a vast conspiracy.
The movie received negative reviews from fans and critics. It ultimately turned out to be a box office bomb, grossing nearly $350,000 against a production budget of $17 million.
The Rock’s co-star believes the movie was ahead of its time
Actor Lou Taylor Pucci played Martin Kefauver, a man who is drafted into military service for the Iraq War in the film. He noted during a recent Reddit AMA that it was ahead of its time. He believes Southland Tales would have made more money if it had been released today.
“I think Richard Kelly is kind of a genius in his own way. Or maybe ahead of his time. I LOVE that movie now,” Pucci wrote. “And if it came out now, i think it would have made alot more money. [I] saw it at a screening in NY at BAM and the theater was packed, which made me happy. I thought Richard knew when he was making it that he was making a B-SciFi cult classic. But it seems he and his producers didn’t think it’d bomb in the box office. They put a lot of $$ into it.
“The only reason I got to shoot down the megazepplin was an added reshoot when they got extra money to throw into it. So for them it was very sad when it wasn’t well received. But I think Richard’s view of a Fascist America was quite prescient and worth a new viewing if you all have time,” The Rock’s co-star said.
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