So it seems Hollywood heard the news of Bin Laden’s death before the rest of us did.
Film star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson apparently found out about Bin Laden’s death almost 45 minutes before an official announcement was even made. “Just got word that will shock the world—Land of the free… home of the brave,” he tweeted, before adding, “DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
And when Obama announced that a small team of Americans had killed Bin Laden in a firefight at a compound in Pakistan, stating that “Justice has been done,” Dwayne tweeted “FINALLY” soon after, before adding that “AMERICA BROUGHT IT – TEAM BRING IT FOREVER PROUD.”
(More on TIME.com: bin Laden’s Final Resting Place)
High-level government relationships? Perhaps. Why not assume it was a congratulatory present on his Fast Five opening weekend and his 39th birthday on Monday? The whole spectacle might remind you of one of the actor’s Saturday Night Live shows, in which he showed the audience what happens when Obama loses his “famous cool.” Johnson turned into “The Rock Obama,” an incentive for Republican senators not to oppose the president.
(More on TIME.com: See bin Laden’s obituary)
What wouldn’t surprise NewsFeed is if Johnson stars in a film adaptation of the raid on Bin Laden’s mansion. And it seems that The Rock would be keen to take up the role. “Can’t wait for the Ron Howard movie about this with The Rock playing the Navy Seal who pulled the trigger,” one fan said, which Johnson retweeted. Twitter recorded its highest sustained rate of tweets ever on Sunday as millions shared the news of the terrorist’s death.
Hollywood must have seen this coming. Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow has been working on a film, tentatively called Kill Bin Laden, for some time now, along with her screenwriting and producing partner Mark Boal. The film, which is based on an earlier unsuccessful mission to assassinate Al Qaeda’s leader, will now be rewritten to include the raid on the Pakistan compound where Bin Laden was killed.
Paramount has the rights to the book Jawbreaker, an account of a 2001 hunt for the al Qaeda leader, written by a former U.S intelligence operative.
(More on TIME.com: Head to TIME.com for continuing bin Laden coverage)