DWAYNE JOHNSON - WRESTLER THE ROCK TO STAR AS THE TOOTH FAIRY IN NEW COMEDY

WRESTLER THE ROCK TO STAR AS THE TOOTH FAIRY IN NEW COMEDY

Dwayne Johnson, better known as wrestling star The Rock, is to take the title role in new comedy The Tooth Fairy.

The 20th Century Fox picture, set to begin shooting in August, will see Johnson starring as an ordinary man recruited to save the tooth fairy kingdom.

Though he built an impressive repuation in action movies such as Welcome to the Jungle and Doom, and received respectable reviews for his turn in Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, Johnson's lead performance in The Tooth Fairy will follow a spot in another family-friendly film, the Disney remake Witch Mountain.

Currently reunited with Welcome to the Jungle co-star in sci-fi thriller Planet 51, Johnson can next be seen alongside Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in Warner Bros comedy Get Smart, a remake of the 1965 hit of the same name.

And though the former football player retread familiar ground when he starred as an NFL quarterback in Disney family comedy The Game Plan, its box office success in the US could see Johnson steering clear of high-octane dramas in favour of more child-friendly fare.

With Michael Lembeck - The Santa Clause 2 and 3 - set to direct, The Tooth Fairy will feature a script penned by Parenthood and City Slickers writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel alongside Jeffrey Ventimilia and Joshua Sternin.