The Rock will star in the film adaptation of the Rampage arcade game

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has signed on to star in New Line Cinema's upcoming silver-screen adaptation of the 1980s arcade game Rampage, reports Deadline.

The project has been in the works since 2011, although this is the first major development since its announcement back then. Midway published the original Rampage in 1986; the company went bankrupt in 2009, and Warner Bros. (which also owns New Line) acquired most of its assets.

The Rampage arcade game put players in the role of three monsters — George the gorilla, Lizzie the lizard and Ralph the werewolf — attempting to reduce various North American cities to rubble. The beasts faced opposition in the form of military forces bent on stopping the urban destruction. New Line is keeping plot specifics of the film under wraps at this point, but Deadline reports that Johnson's character "gets in [the monsters'] way."

No director is attached to Rampage at this point, although a script by Ryan Engle (Non-Stop) is in place. Production is set to begin next summer following Johnson's work on Fast & Furious 8, which is scheduled to debut in April 2017.

Rampage is being produced by Beau Flynn (Requiem for a Dream); he and New Line are re-teaming with Johnson after the smashing success of San Andreas. The disaster movie premiered last month and is currently the year's sixth-highest-grossing film worldwide, with more than $415 million in box office receipts.

For more on the Rampage arcade game, check out gameplay footage below from the 2012 compilation Midway Arcade Origins.