According to IndieWire, Johnson and Blunt—who are fashioning themselves into some kind of strange (and, based on name alone, easily meme-able) dynamic duo after multiple collaborations—brought the project to Scorsese themselves.

Following the critical acclaim of his last movie, Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) legendary director Martin Scorsese is back, and this time, he's bringing The Rock with him. Dwyane Johnson is set to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt in an untitled crime drama based on a real Hawaiian mobster,

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is set to lead Martin Scorsese's new mafia drama – and we're here for it. Deadline has described Johnson's character as "Robert De Niro's Jimmy the Gent character from Goodfellas, but as a ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, based on a real figure, who battled encroaching rivals for control of organized crime in Hawaii."