“I’ve always been a big Madden fan. I can’t tell you which game, in particular, we’re doing, but there will be an announcement this year. We’re going to bring one of the biggest, most badass games to the screen—one that I’ve played for years. I’m really excited to bring it to fans around the world. Of course, we’re going to do right by our gamer friends—but really we’re just going to make a great movie.”

– Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson via Men’s Journal

Just because ol’ Rock is being coy doesn’t mean we can’t put on our detective hats and try to figure out what he may be talking about. Let’s start with some facts we know to be true.

1) The Rock is a Big-Time Gamer, and He’s an Xbox Guy

The Rock introduced the Xbox to the world at CES 2001.

In a 2006 interview with Reuters LIFE!, Johnson commented on his Xbox setup. “I always make sure that I have my Xbox set up wherever I go. I have one in my living room, in my office, one in my trailer. So whenever it hits me, I can play the game Madden ’06 or ’07.”

Ahead of the 2020 launch of the Xbox Series, X-Rock partnered with Microsoft to surprise Children’s Hospitals with custom The Rock-branded game consoles

At this point, I think it is safe to guess that it’s gonna be based on a Microsoft exclusive.

2) Which Game Could It Be?

The list of Microsoft-exclusive titles isn’t quite as robust as Sony’s on the Playstation. Which properties could he be talking about?

HALO

HALO is easily the biggest of their franchises. But Johnson said they are bringing his project to the screen, which makes me think it’s not something we’ve already got. The HALO series is coming to Paramount+ in 2022, so I think it’s out.

Fable

Fable is one of the best RPGs that has ever rolled out as a Microsoft exclusive. It’s been around for almost as long as HALO, so it fits in with the “timeline” of how long it has been a badass game. I just don’t see this as the title, unless they aren’t doing live-action. The Rock is a beast animated, see Moana if you somehow haven’t, but this has a live-action feel.

Sea of Thieves

This is the newest one I’m listing today; Sea of Thieves released in 2018. The game was on PC before Xbox, and four years isn’t very long. That said, I’m 1,000% here for a swash-buckling movie with a mostly shirtless Dwayne Johnson.

Now, for the property I’m putting out as my guess:

Gears of War

The first Gears of War game was released in 2006 for the Xbox 360. New Line Cinema purchased the movie rights in 2007, so the idea of a Gears movie isn’t new either. As of 2017, the rights were in the hands of Universal Pictures. There is one person who might not love this turn of events, David Bautista. Bautista has been very vocal about his desire to play protagonist Marcus Fenix. It’s possible Johnson and Bautista appear together, but I doubt they play nice in the sandbox. Neither of those two is willingly playing the No. 2, as cool as Dominic Santiago can be.