BETWEEN A ROCK & A HARD PLACE!
Dwayne dumpster fire delights Diesel
SCREEN muscleman Vin Diesel is getting the last laugh in his Fast & Furious feud with former co-star Dwayne Johnson, who’s seeing his career scrape Rock bottom, tattletales snicker.
Former pro grappler Johnson, 50, split from the F&F franchise after its eighth flick, and gave 55-year-old Diesel the back of his hand when the star producer made a public invitation for his old rival to come back for the tenth film.
But Johnson’s new run as a solo star seems to be bombing, with his first big film in the superhero universe, Black Adam, getting roasted by poor reviews and reportedly losing DC Films an estimated $100 million last year! Now plans for a sequel have been nixed, insiders say.
Johnson’s TV career is also going up in smoke as his sitcom, Young Rock, is driving viewers away in droves, with the audience plummeting from 5.3 million for its 2021 debut to just 1.2 million now. Spies cackle the numbers are so lousy, it’ll be canceled later this spring.
Meanwhile, Diesel denies he’s blackballing Johnson, but insiders believe he’s thoroughly enjoying the moment!
“Vin says he’s tried to extend an olive branch to Dwayne countless times and got nothing but snide comments back,” a source says.
“It gives him satisfaction to think Rock is going to be begging to get back into the Fast & Furious franchise. “Dwayne needs it more than they need him!”
Still, a source predicts Johnson won’t give Diesel the satisfaction of crawling back.
“Dwayne has gotten so used to being successful, he can’t remember the taste of failure,” the source says. “He’s still a very proud man and says he will never sink so low that he will go to Vin hat in hand asking to work together again!”
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein