Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | November 20, 2025
I just want The Rock to be happy. I’ve been watching him perform for almost thirty years and seen the man sweat, bleed, laugh, and cry. He’s wowed me as both a professional wrestler and actor. While I wasn’t a fan of his recent attempt at being an Oscar-worthy actor, I’m glad he did it, and don’t think his window for such adulation is closed (but I don’t expect it to come this year). If he’s happy, I’m happy.
That’s what I saw in a new video the actor posted to Instagram: happiness. He’s begun filming the third (and final) installment of the Jumanji franchise, which he is shooting in LA. The video he posted shows him driving around the Universal lot, waving to fans, and talking to his phone. It felt… kinda unsafe for him to be driving while filming a video, but at least he’s in, like, a golf cart?
But it’s not just the smiling and waving to the fans that makes the video nice; it’s how excited he seems to be working on the movie and working in Los Angeles. There’s a sincerity to it. Dwayne Johnson is more than capable of being sincere, and we saw that in promotion for The Smashing Machine as well, but I almost wonder if that turn imbued a new kind of energy in him. This feels less like a hype video, which I’m more used to from ole Dwayne, and has more of an “isn’t this nice” vibe.
He also takes a moment to discuss a die he has tied around his neck, which he says is an easter egg from the first film. This is the dice from the original Jumanji with Robin Williams as a show of respect and a way of honoring Robin and this entire franchise that he started as we film our very last Jumanji,” he claimed. My guess is that he means it’s the dice in the movie and not from the movie, but I’m not going to argue with a man in this good of a mood.
At the end of the day, this feels like The Rock in a happy place. He’s had a string of disappointments over the last few years, between attempting to reshape the DCU and putting himself up for a potential Oscar. His return to the WWE had incredible highs that were outdone by devastating lows. But here he is, the man once known as Franchise Viagra, making the third film in a big franchise and looking like a million bucks. Good for him.
