In January, we received word that director Simon West and actor Paul Walker had been replaced by the duo of Patrick Alessandrin (of District 13: Ultimatum) and Clive Owen in the action flick Protection. Now it looks like we have another change in the talent line-up as The Wrap reports Alessandrin has left the project and Dwayne Johnson has replaced Owen in the film about a disgraced ex-Special Forces soldier who takes on a Mexican cartel in an attempt to rescue and protect a judge’s 21 year-old daughter, who has been targeted by the cartel for agreeing to testify against a member after she witnesses her father’s murder.

This project is one of a couple that will see Johnson returning to action (finally!) after taking on too much family fare like Planet 51 and The Tooth Fairy recently. The other is Faster, written by Joe and Tony Gayton and directed by George Tillman (Notorious, Men of Honor) which focuses on an ex-con looking to avenge his brother’s murder, who is trailed by a veteran cop. Both sound mighty generic to me, and if Protection has switched out lead actors and directors twice now (a new director has yet to be named) then it sounds like maybe the script should just be left in a pile somewhere. We’ll see what happens, for better or worse.