John Cena has another Hollywood project lined up, and this one sounds like somebody threw a family comedy, a home invasion thriller and a nervous breakdown into the same blender. Cena is set to star alongside David Harbour in The Family Disappears, a new dark comedy that starts production next month.
Deadline reports that Fifth Season is behind the film, with Bad Apples director Jonatan Etzler taking the reins. Brendan O’Hare wrote the original script, and the setup is simple enough until it gets very weird.
The story centers on an overworked dad who comes home from a business trip and discovers his entire family has vanished. As if that isn’t bad enough, some mysterious stranger has apparently bought the house and moved in while he was gone.
That’s the movie. Cena and Harbour are both starring, but nobody has revealed which one of them is playing the panicked dad or the guy who suddenly owns his house. Either way, there is plenty of room here for things to go off the rails fast.
Production is set to kick off November 10 in Atlanta, Georgia. Nick Weidenfeld is producing through Friends Night alongside Alexis Garcia through CAT5, the same producing team behind Friendship with Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd.
The Family Disappears is expected to lean into dark comedy with some thriller energy underneath it, which puts it in the same general neighborhood as Harbour’s DTF St. Louis and the offbeat tone of Friendship.
Cena is already buried in projects. He recently scored his first Emmy nomination as an executive producer on Heads of State, where he also starred opposite Idris Elba, and he has Matchbox the Movie and One Attempt Remaining with Jennifer Garner still on deck.
Harbour is just as busy. With Stranger Things coming to an end, he already has Violent Night 2, Avengers: Doomsday, John Rambo and A Head Full of Ghosts sitting on his schedule.
Cena has gone from WWE megastar to one of Hollywood’s busiest guys, and now he is jumping into a movie where a man comes home and finds his family gone and another dude living in his house. That is a pretty wild elevator pitch, and putting Cena and Harbour in the middle of it makes the whole thing even stranger.
Do you think John Cena and David Harbour are a good pairing for The Family Disappears, and which one do you think should play the mystery homeowner? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
