Following a pre-Sundance acquisition by Relativity Sports, sources say Dwayne Johnson and his production company 7 Bucks Entertainment are in talks to come on board as exec producers the football documentary “In Football We Trust.”
The pic is set to premiere on Jan. 23 at the Sundance Film Festival and follows the role football plays within the Polynesian community in Salt Lake City, Utah.
First-time filmmakers Tony Vainuku and Erika Cohn, based in Salt Lake City, obtained access to the Polynesian community and explored the world of recruiting, the nature of competitive athletics, the complexities of cultural identity and religion along with the pressures of family responsibility. Independent Television Service co-produced and co-financed.
Michael D. Ratner, president of OBB Pictures, is an executive producer.
Insiders say that the moment Johnson got wind of the project he immediately got the word out that he wanted to be involved. While he is always trying to expand his brand with his production company 7 Bucks entertainment, Johnson is coming on to this project to tell an incredible story about Family, Pride and Football that he believes audiences would be in to.
Johnson is half Samoan and played football in college for the Miami Hurricanes, and felt that this project would educate audiences about that Samoan culture that is so important to him.
The film is the first documentary acquisition by Relativity Sports, which has produced and released “Being: Mariano,” “David Ortiz: In the Moment,” “Dwight Howard: In the Moment” and “Amar’e Stoudemire: In the Moment.”
Johnson can currently be seen as a host on TNT’s “Wake Up Call,” another passion project Johnson got involved with in order to help others out, which he also exec produces.
He is also currently filming the HBO series “Ballers” where he plays a Miami sports agent and can be seen next in “The Fast and Furious 7” followed by “San Andreas.” He is repped by WME.
