John Cena has admitted that the pitch for his latest movie Matchbox was different to his usual process.
The 17-time WWE Champion appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote his latest movie based on the popular toy car franchise. Fallon brought up that Cena agreed to be in the movie despite not seeing a script beforehand. Cena noted that that is not something he normally does. However, having previously been in a Mattel-oriented story and having faith in the director, Cena signed on to the project:
“Which is not my norm. Usually there’s got to be a great producer, passionate director, great story. We had a great producer and a passionate director. I did Barbie, I saw what Mattel does with their IP. It was a small role [in Barbie]. Sam Hargrave, excellent action director, so I knew the action was going to be spectacular. You know what, I’ll trust the process and hope they do a good story. What I love about Matchbox: The Movie […] my memory is playing with my brothers. We’d dump out the Matchbox bucket, because there’s five of us. We’d draft cars; I’d pick my favourite or trade those cars to get my favourite.”
John Cena Loves The Concept of Nostalgia For Matchbox
Continuing, Cena said that the film is heavily based on nostalgia. Instead of having a story where the small cars magically come to life, the film is more based on how the cars made the characters feel as kids:
“The concept is nostalgia. What I love about the movie is that Matchbox uses the car as nostalgia. It wasn’t a ‘How are they gonna do this? Are they gonna drop magic dust on a car and it gets big?’ No. It’s a story about friends who are united through the love of this toy as a kid. Then they grow up and go their separate ways. Then they get caught up in chaos. What keeps them together is nostalgia, that time when we could take a bunch of toy cars and use our imagination.”
Matchbox is an Apple TV exclusive that will be available to stream on Friday, October 9. No critic reviews have become available at this time.
This was Cena’s 17th appearance on The Tonight Show, which is equal to the number of World Championships he won in WWE. To mark the occasion and to recognise Fallon’s work, the actor and wrestler presented Fallon with his own custom championship.
Cena has conducted multiple interviews to promote his next movie. During another conversation, John Cena was asked about his relationship with Vince McMahon.
Featured image: WWE
