It's official: Dwayne Johnson is the new Brendan Fraser. Or, at least, that's what New Line are hoping as they cast Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the sequel to Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island sees Josh Hutcherson return as Sam Anderson, the young wannabe explorer. Johnson will be his mum's new fella, who Sam must take with him when he travels to the mysterious titular island to try and find his missing granddad.

Written by Richard Outten, Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, the sequel is again from another Jules Verne novel. This one's called The Mysterious Island. Duh.

Cats & Dogs 2 director Brad Peyton has picked up the megaphone, with the movie looking once again down the 3D lens. Or lenses. Depending on how accurate you like your metaphors to be.

Fraser dropped out due to conflict over starting dates - a shame, because his likeable presence made Journey to the Centre of the Earth quite a lot of fun. It even had the genuine novelty impact of 3D before it took over and ruined modern cinema. Here's hoping some of that charm can also be found in family-friendly Dwayne. He'll next be seen shooting people and looking angry in revenge flick Faster.