Dwayne Johnson ‘eyes deal with UK club’ as fellow Hollywood star plots takeover

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney ‘serious’ about Gareth Bale playing at Wrexham

Hollywood stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Ray Winstone could both be in store for a future role at Southend United. The former, who owns a production company, is reportedly interested in making a documentary on the club if a recent takeover bid from a group of local businessmen proves successful.

A consortium including Simon Jackson, Kristofer Tremains and members of Integral Sports Management (ISM) are in advanced talks to acquire Southend from current chairman Ron Martin, according to Echosport.

The report adds that members of the group have now made contact with Seven Bucks Productions – a company owned by Johnson – who are interested in making a fly-on-the-wall documentary on the Shrimpers if the takeover bid goes through.

The former WWE wrestler, who was also the highest-grossing male actor in the world back in 2020, could therefore be set for a surreal association with the fifth-tier side.

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Winstone may also be involved in the bid, given that he is a co-founder of ISM. The 66-year-old is a well-known West Ham fan but could yet be part of the effort to propel the Essex-based side back into the EFL.

Southend were relegated to the National League back in 2021 for the first time in over a century. With only one automatic promotion spot on offer, the fifth-tier is notoriously difficult to get out of and the Shrimpers have failed to even make the play-offs over the past two seasons.

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Supporters will hope that high-profile involvement in the club can help towards restoring their EFL status. Johnson is one of the most famous people on the planet with just shy of 400 million followers on Instagram, meaning his production company’s prospective documentary has the potential to spark global intrigue.

Hollywood involvement in lower-league football has already come up trumps this season, with Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney right in amongst the celebrations after their side clinched promotion to League Two last month.

And although their project is still at an early stage, Reynolds refused to rule out dreams of reaching the Premier League. “It’s just about growing the best possible club and finding value in any place we can, whether that’s financial or emotional: sometimes that’s indistinguishable,” he said.

“Of course our goal is to get to the Premier League – why wouldn’t it be, if we can do that? Whether it takes five years, whether it takes 20 years, that’s the goal, that’s the mission.”

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