Dwayne Johnson to Produce Disney's Live-Action Medusa Movie

Disney's appetite for mythology-driven storytelling has taken a compelling new turn, with the studio developing a live-action Medusa movie under the producing banner of one of Hollywood's most commercially savvy figures. Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions is at the helm, deepening an already substantial creative partnership between Johnson and the House of Mouse.

Seven Bucks Partners With Disney on a Mythological Reinvention

According to Just Jared, the project is moving forward as part of Seven Bucks Productions' overall deal with Disney, with Johnson producing alongside his longtime partners Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. Melissa Fried will oversee the project for the label, and Matt Smith is also attached as a producer through Electro Corduroy Entertainment. The film is not a mythology adaptation in the traditional blockbuster sense — rather, it is being developed as an original live-action story, which suggests Disney and its collaborators are taking a more interpretive approach to the source material than the sword-and-sandal spectacles audiences may recall from productions like Clash of the Titans.

This move is consistent with Johnson's growing profile as a producer of live-action Disney properties. His work shepherding the Moana live-action remake has already demonstrated his investment in Disney's storytelling ecosystem — a journey he has discussed at length in terms of personal and cultural transformation.

The Screenwriter Bringing Medusa to Life

Michael Montemayor has been tapped to write the first draft of the screenplay, a choice that signals the studio's intent to treat the material with a fairy-tale sensibility rather than pure action-epic bombast. Montemayor is currently associated with two other notable Disney projects: the live-action adaptation of Tangled and Stepsisters, a spinoff of the Cinderella universe. His portfolio suggests a writer comfortable navigating recognizable mythological and folkloric archetypes through a contemporary lens — a skill set particularly well-suited to the challenge of reimagining Medusa, a figure whose narrative has been debated and reinterpreted for centuries.

Medusa, in classical Greek mythology, is one of three Gorgon sisters, distinguished by her serpentine hair and the petrifying power of her gaze. What makes her an especially rich subject for modern storytelling is the ambiguity baked into her origin: in some ancient traditions, she is a monster from birth; in others, most notably Ovid's Metamorphoses, she is a victim of divine cruelty transformed against her will. That tension between monster and martyr is precisely the kind of thematic complexity that contemporary audiences — and contemporary filmmakers — have shown considerable appetite for.

Will Johnson Step in Front of the Camera?

At this stage, Johnson is not attached to act in the film, serving strictly in a producing capacity. Whether that changes as the project develops remains an open question. His track record of moving fluidly between producing and starring roles — particularly within the Disney framework, where he has played Maui across both animated and live-action versions of Moana — means the possibility is never entirely off the table. Still, the mythological subject matter may lend itself to a cast configured quite differently from Johnson's usual star vehicles.

A Busy Slate for the Seven Bucks Machine

The Medusa announcement arrives at a particularly active moment for Johnson's professional calendar. He is set to return to the Jumanji franchise with Open World, due in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25 — a film that already has audiences talking after its first trailer drop. Between franchise sequels, live-action mythology, and his continued investment in Disney's expanding universe, Johnson's producing operation is functioning at full capacity.

For Disney, a Medusa project represents both a creative risk and a smart brand calculation — drawing on the timeless appeal of Greek mythology while positioning the studio to offer something genuinely original rather than another animated remake. How that vision takes shape will depend heavily on what Montemayor delivers in that first draft.