Moviegoers To Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson: Just Bring It

Dwayne Johnson quit being a full-time professional wrestler over a decade ago. That hasn't stopped the world from smelling what he's cooking.

Johnson's latest movie, the action-disaster flick "San Andreas" from Warner Bros. (subsidiary of Time Warner Inc TWX, opened domestically this weekend to the tune of $53 million. That's Johnson's second No. 1 opening of the year -- after "Furious 7" -- and his biggest opening ever as a solo leading man.

The former heavyweight champion in the World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE who was once jeered to chants of "Die Rocky Die" has become the world's biggest movie star.

No.1

"San Andreas" had considerable buildup and predictions were coming in for about a $40 million opening. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak, told Variety that ""San Andreas" gained momentum throughout the weekend due to the film delivering what he called 'pure popcorn movie excitement.'"

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"Furious 7" opened on April 3 and has grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide. That makes it the fourth-highest grossing movie of all time and by the time it wraps up in theaters should surpass its next-closest competition. Not bad for a guy who started out as small-part villain in "The Mummy" sequel back in 2001.

This has also bounce-back years of sorts for Johnson. Despite heavy promotion for 2014's "Hercules" -- his first major leading role in a few years at the time -- the move finished second in its opening weekend and finished with $243 million worldwide.

Superstar Transition

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has been trying to mix sports and entertainment for over 30 years. WWE superstars have crossed over in numerous movies and television shows since 1984, but none have seen anywhere close to the success of The Rock.

Hulk Hogan made a few popcorn flicks in the early 1990s. Steve Austin couldn't quite make the transition when he retired in 2003. John Cena in recent years has tried to boost WWE's struggling film studios.

But The Rock, who stepped away from full-time action in 2003, has slowly spun his seven-year stint as a WWE superstar into movie stardom. Rock's family is deeply rooted in the world of professional wrestling and he has occasionally stepped back in the ring over the last decade. This crossover helped give him another marketing platform, as well as giving WWE its own box-office records.

The Rock was known as one of the most charismatic performers and talkers in WWE; Dwayne Johnson has kept that going on the big screen.

Leading Man

The New York Post recently published a pretty disparaging piece on George Clooney. The gist of the column was that, despite his well-accepted moniker of "leading man" and critical darling, he is a bit overrated as a "movie star."

He may have a couple Oscar trophies in his hands, but it's hard to argue: adjusted for inflation, Clooney has six movies that have grossed more than $100 million worldwide. In movies in which Johnson was one of the leading stars, he has seven movies, three of which have crossed $200 million. Clooney's biggest movie -- "The Perfect Storm" -- was released in 1998.

Clooney's most recent flick, Walt Disney Co DIS's "Tomorrowland," opened to a severely disappointing $33 million on Memorial Day weekend. The movie had a $190 million budget; "San Andreas" had a $110 million budget.

Watch Out

Johnson was a fairly bankable star from 2003-2011, mixing action roles with family-friendly ones. Since joining the "Fast & Furious" franchise in 2011, however, he has been on a pretty incredible streak. His seemingly unending self and studio promotion has played a small part in that.

The wrestler who occasionally calls back to his poor childhood -- when he and his mother had only a few bucks in their pockets -- is now the world's biggest star.

Moviegoers and studios are sure to stay tuned for what he has cooked up next.