After bulking up to portray legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine , Dwayne Johnson is slimming down to play a man who befriends a chicken in his next movie.

Following his latest film’s buzzworthy premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Johnson, who has been earning raves as the lead in the upcoming sports drama, made headlines for his lean appearance on the red carpet.

“It’s out there now, big news is I’m teaming up with (his Smashing Machine director) Benny Safdie again and we’re gonna make a film called Lizard Music , which is based off of a novel written by Daniel Pinkwater,” Johnson said during a retrospective talk about his career during the Toronto International Film Festival.

“Benny pitched me this after we wrapped The Smashing Machine , and after about

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