The Rock recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter while promoting the release of Fighting With My Family, saying major studios passed on it because of the still-existing stigma of wrestling:
“We wanted a studio to buy into it, and no one did. We got passed on everywhere. It was a small British comedy about a crazy wrestling family that wasn’t famous.”
Johnson’s ex-wife and business partner, Dany Garcia, echoed those comments, saying:
“Wrestling is the conduit for Paige’s journey. And that has a certain stigma.”
The Rock also talked about the response from early test screenings of the film, adding “wrestling fans floated out of the theaters. And the nonwrestling fans, the ones who have a bit more heightened taste in terms of their movies, they were just pleasantly surprised.”
Fighting With My Family hits theaters on February 14th nationwide.
Read More: The Rock Says He Was ‘First Choice’ For Oscars Host, Pat McAfee Officially Starts With WWE
