The Rock Says “World Building” Is Why Jungle Cruise Director Is Right For Black Adam (Exclusive)

This weekend will see the long-awaited release of Jungle Cruise, a new Disney blockbuster starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt. The action adventure blockbuster is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who is already re-teaming with Johnson on DC’s Black Adam movie. While the movies do seem pretty different in terms of setting and tone, it sounds like one aspect of Collet-Serra’s approach to Jungle Cruise is what helped him earn the Black Adam job. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis, Johnson and Blunt dove into what makes the director stand out — particularly, his ability to “build worlds.”

“What myself and Hiram saw is exactly what Emily saw, which is someone who is a passionate director,” Johnson explained. “He comes from an elk of very talented Spanish filmmakers of this era and time and a generation that’s so respected, and also he builds worlds. He does that incredibly well, as you’ve seen now with Jungle Cruise. And he can take the backdrop and the setting of something that’s massive and enormous, in terms of a world building, and still make it feel these moments feel very, very intimate, which you saw with Emily and I. So you can imagine, then, what he will do with Black Adam. I’ve shared so many pictures with Emily on set of Black Adam and…”

“It’s so gorgeous to look at,” Blunt added. “Such a spectacle. It’s like, you will love it. It’s so gorgeous. It’s really cool.”

“That’s what I love about Jaume, is he’s really ambitious,” Blunt echoed. “He’s never a guy who has his head in his hands. I think that nothing is ever good enough so he pushes and strives and strives, but he digs for gold. He recognizes where the nuance of the film is and where the beauty is. And I think that it’s because of his free-spirited approach that we were able to stretch the scenes around, and improv, and that’s why the scenes feel so alive, and they’re so sparkly. And it’s just because Jaume lets you have a free rein, so he doesn’t rule with this iron fist. He’s a delight. I mean, we could talk about him all day as you know. We love to talk about him.”

“And by the way, I will say this about Jaume, Emily and I’ve talked about this,” Johnson added. “We shot [Jungle Cruise] three years ago and now it’s coming out. Now the world is getting ready to see his capabilities and his real skill set as a director and a storyteller and a filmmaker. And then of course, we locked him up for Black Adam, but he’s like Hollywood’s best kept secret right now.”

Joining Johnson in Black Adam are Aldis Hodge (Underground, The Invisible Man) as Hawkman, Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I Love Before, Charlie’s Angels) as Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell (Trinkets, Euphoria) as Cyclone, Sarah Shahi (The L Word, Sex/Life) as Adrianna Tomaz, and Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye, Mamma Mia!) as Doctor Fate. Uli Latukefu (Young Rock), Marwan Kenzari (The Old Guard, Aladdin) Mohammed Amer (Ramy), James Cusati-Moyer (Prodigal Son), Bodhi Sabongui (Legends of Tomorrow) have also been cast in currently unknown roles.

Jungle Cruise will be released in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on July 30th. Black Adam is set to be released on July 29, 2022.