The Wrecking Crew with Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa reunite in The Wrecking Crew
How Dave Bautista roped Jason Momoa into co-starring in The Wrecking Crew with a Tweet
Some movie pitches happen in stuffy boardrooms. Some happen over fancy dinners. But in the age of the internet, a throwaway Tweet from Dave Bautista set the wheels in motion for two action stars to reunite onscreen in buddy comedy The Wrecking Crew. The film follows estranged half-brothers Jonny (Jason Momoa) and James (Bautista), who are caught in a conspiracy after their father’s mysterious death.
At The Wrecking Crew global press conference this week – hosted by Alex Zane, featuring Bautista, Momoa and director Angel Manuel Soto – Bautista told Popcorn Podcast and other attending media that a late-night thought exploded into the Prime Video project in about the time it takes to finish a streaming binge.
Watch The Wrecking Crew
“I Tweeted one night, ‘I want to do a buddy cop film with Jason Momoa, or something like Lethal Weapon, and I want David Leitch to direct it’,” he said. “It got more response than anything I've ever Tweeted, which has been mostly, you know, garbage. Just random thoughts.”
With the idle notion gaining momentum in the online world overnight, Momoa awoke to unfolding chaos.
“I wake up with my agent calling me, going, ‘What are we doing? You, Bautista and Leitch are doing a movie.’ I'm like, ‘What?’” he recalled.
But after the initial shock wore off, Momoa, who has worked with Bautista on blockbuster film Dune and the second season of his dystopian sci-fi series See, was enthusiastic about sharing the screen again, offering that he “had an idea” for the story that had been germinating since they battled it out on the set of See.
“We were covered in mud and blood and freezing our arses off in Toronto. I'm like, ‘We’ve got to do a comedy in a warm place’. And, for almost two decades, I've had this idea in my head. I pitched it to him and Dave's like, ‘Done!’”
Momoa got his wish with The Wrecking Crew being filmed in his sunny homeland of Hawaii, allowing ample opportunity for the real-life friends to hang out during and after a hard day’s work.
“I mean, the sun’s setting in Hawaii and you're right next to your buddy riding a Harley,” Momoa said.
“I was like, ‘Can't believe we're getting paid to do this,’” Bautista added. “I wanted to work with Jason again. He's such a fun guy and our energies are so different. We don't clash. He's super high energy, I'm super low energy, which just works in real life, and it works on film.”
The Wrecking Crew is now streaming on Prime Video
