As noted earlier here on the website, Variety is reporting that that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is teaming up with his producing partner Dany Garcia and Ben Silverman’s Electus Entertainment to find the next great hero in the reality series The Hero.
Three teams of regular people well be sent on an adventure across three continents in missions that will require sacrifice and working together in the groups. The Rock will not host, but will provide encouragement by appearing in various incarnations. He will also promote the show through social media and use those tools during every part of the show’s development from pre-production to live broadcasts.
Silverman said: “While Dwayne’s physical stature is unmatched, it is his uncompromising moral character and humanity that proves what an inspirational hero he is.”
Johnson added: “‘The Hero’ will bridge the digital and physical world on the small screen in an unmatched fashion, enabling fans to determine the fate of the show’s contestants entirely through social media and onscreen decision-making,”
Johnson used Twitter heavily while promoting his own appearance at WWE’s Wrestlemania 28 in Miami in April 1. He has over 9.1 million fans on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and gets 28,000 new followers per day on both Twitter and Facebook. Electus hopes to take advantage of that for the show.
Rick Ringbakk, creator and executive producer of The Hero said: “The Hero is a series designed to redefine what is possible in unscripted television. It has incredible scale, but at its core it’s about testing the limits of real people and real relationships. Dwayne Johnson is emblematic of what it means to ‘be more than you can be’, and to be a hero.”
The show was inspired by recent headlines of ordinary people performing heroic tasks like Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who safely landed a US Airways jet in the Hudson River off New York City after the engines failed.
Silverman also plans on allowing marketers to promote their products on the program, similar to NBC’s Fashion Star (also run by Silverman) which promotes Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and H&M. He will reveal the new program during a panel discussion today at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas before shopping it to networks.
The Hero was created by Craig Armstrong and Rick Ringbakk of 5×5 Media along with Charles Wachter and Silverman. Electus’ Silverman, Chris Grant and Jimmy Fox will executive produce with 5×5 Media, Wachter, Johnson and Garcia. Electus Intl will handle international distribution.
