162. The Scorpion King (Summer of Rock)

Author: Laci Roth & Matt Stokes
Published: Fri 13 Jun 2025
Episode Link: https://sites.libsyn.com/99026/162-the-scorpion-king-summer-of-rock

The Summer of Rock begins as Laci and Matt dive into the movie career of Dwayne Johnson with his first leading role in The Scorpion King (2002).

The Rock first graced the big screen a year earlier in The Mummy Returns, in a brief prologue in which he plays a character who seemingly has nothing to do with the sturdy nice fellow he plays in Scorpion King.

And now he gets to lead a picture. And what a picture. An old-fashioned picture, you might say. One refreshingly free of irony, self-awareness, or any of the oppressive trappings of modernity. This movie’s kinda great, actually. And so is The Rock. Is it possible his career peaked with his first feature? We shall find out in the weeks and months ahead.

The Summer of Rock is our summer 2025 miniseries covering the movie career of Dwayne Johnson through nine movies, presented in chronological order. Starting with his attempt at crossing over from the world of wrestling, The Rock’s career got off to a bumpy start before finally taking off in the 2010s. But it wasn’t long before the bumps returned, and we’ll be telling the story for you all summer long!

Bonus video: Matt explains why all movie studio CEOs are basically the exact same guy and why they all make the exact same decisions. Watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MC1dxeLQrgY

Next week: The Rundown (2003)

Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! patreon.com/loadbearingbeams

Time stamps:

00:11:28 — Our personal histories with The Scorpion King

00:28:20 — History segment: Brief career overview of Dwayne Johnson; development and production of The Scorpion King and the surprisingly long direct-to-video franchise it spawned

00:47:45 — In-depth movie discussion

01:32:00 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Sources:

The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage by Nick de Semlyen (2023) - https://bit.ly/4kDH4V3

“Hiding Out with Dwayne Johnson: The GQ Video Cover Story” by Zach Baron | GQ (2024) - https://bit.ly/3HB2Lq4

Review of “The Scorpion King” by Roger Ebert | The Chicago Sun-Times (2002) - https://bit.ly/3SIJ3em

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Summer of Rock” - https://youtube.com/shorts/nLe3DMwryiQ

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

"Summer of Rock" theme song credits:

Words and music by Matt Stokes

Engineered, mixed, and mastered by TJ Barends | Bare Sounds

Personnel:

TJ Barends - backing vocals

Wade Hymel - drums/guitar/backing vocals

Laci Roth - vocals