Los Angeles, Aug 20 (IANS): Actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is teaming up with Disney to translate a theme park ride to the big screen.

Johnson will star in "Jungle Cruise", a film based on the classic ride, while John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the duo behind the Will Smith heist film "Focus", have been tapped to write the script, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Disney has been trying to helm a movie based on the popular ride since at least 2004, during the years when the success of "The Pirates of the Caribbean" set sail many ride-based projects.

Jungle Cruise is one of the Disneyland's original rides and has a retro adventure vibe, transporting parkgoers into a mélange of African settings such as the Nile river and Congo river, encountering rhinos and hippos and headhunters along the way. There's an Amazon river section featuring piranhas.

The studio last tried to develop the project as a starring vehicle for Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in early 2011 with writer Roger S.H. Schulman.