Apart from having a commendable run in the WWE ring for years, the 16-time world champion John Cena has emerged as a sought after name in Hollywood. From the very start of his venturing into the industry, the $80 million actor came out as the major USP factor of multiple superhit projects.

The Fast X hero is currently gearing up for the release of his action-comedy, Hidden Strike, which shooting has been wrapped up in 2018. The trailer is already out and fans are immensely excited to see him sharing the screen with Hong Kong action king Jackie Chan. It was the very presence of Cena that hyped up the movie to a great extent even before its release. That said, he wouldn’t be in the film if XYZ Films would have stuck to their first choice for the role of Chris Van Horne.

John Cena wasn’t the first choice as Hidden Strike’s leading star

The Hidden Strike aka SNAFU is set to get a Netflix release soon. The good news first came on May 30th, 2023, when fans were already left out of hope of witnessing the movie in their lifetime. Finally, they got smitten over, seeing the outstanding collaboration between Chan and Cena after a 5-year wait. But many aren’t aware of the fact that it was not Cena who was first picked up for the role of the leading hero.

According to the report, it was Sylvester Stallone who initially joined the cast of the movie Hidden Strike to play Cena’s character, directed by Scott Waugh. However, later the Italian star dropped his association with the movie for some unspecified reason. While there is no information on why the $400 million actor backed out, there is no doubt that it brought one of the biggest breaks for Cena as he took a major step in the world of action comedy with this film.

Read more: Years After Becoming $80M Worth Hollywood Star, John Cena Left Big WWE Shoes to Fill, That Led Top Champion to Call It “Insanity”

However, keeping aside all the ifs and buts, the good part is that the highly anticipated action flick starring a breathtaking cast is about to hit the theaters by the end of this year. But you still might have that obvious question in your mind why it took so long to see the light of day?

Why the movie faced a massive delay in order to release in theaters?

Well, there is more than one reason to be blamed for the hazards that the movie had to face in order to get release permission. Several factors contributed to the delay. Apart from the common difficulties caused by the pandemic worldwide, there was an array of problems involved behind the scene.

There were some issues with American studios and China back then. The declining trade relation between the two countries had a negative impact on American filmmakers and actors. On top of it, Cena’s reference to Taiwan as a country garnered severe criticism from the Chinese media and slowed down the process of the release even more. While the actor apologized for his comments later, it couldn’t do away with the doubt if Chinese movie buffs will be interested in visiting theaters to watch Cena on the big screen or not.

However, surpassing a series of odds, we all currently waiting for the $80 million plus project’s release date to be announced soon.

Watch the story: Losing 20 Pounds Immediately, John Cena Once Revealed How Training With Hidden Strike Co-Star Jackie Chan ‘Cost Him Everything’ Only To Learn a Valuable Lesson

What’s your take on John Cena replacing Sylvester Stallone as one of the lead roles in the movie Hidden Strike? Let us know in the comments.