The Marine The Marine is a 2006 action film starring wrestler John Cena . The film was directed by John Bonito , written by Michelle Gallagher and Alan B . McElroy and produced by Joel Simon . Produced by the films division of World Wrestling Entertainment , called WWE Films , and distributed in the United States by 20th Century Fox , the film received a PG - 13 rating from the MPAA for " intense sequences of violent action , sensuality and language " . However an unrated version was released on DVD and Blu - ray . Plot . After returning home from Iraq , former Marine John Triton ( Cena ) and his wife Kate ( Carlson ) decide to take a vacation . Meanwhile , criminal mastermind Rome ( Robert Patrick ) robs a jewelry store with his accomplices : his attractive girlfriend Angela ( Abigail Bianca ) , Morgan ( Parker ) , Vescera ( Gibson ) , and Bennett ( Bennett ) . While running from the cops , they stop at a gas station , where John and Kate have stopped as well . When a patrol car arrives to fill up , Morgan murders one of the officers while Rome injures the second officer . After Bennett knocks John out with a fire extinguisher , Kate is kidnapped . Morgan shoots at the gas tanks , causing the store to blow up with John inside . John survives , emerging to take the abandoned patrol car . He gives chase , with every single member of the gang shooting at him . They go through a construction area , and to the edge of a lake . Under heavy fire , John falls out of the car and into the lake . The criminals decide to travel through the swamps to avoid the police , still with Kate as their hostage . John revives and , despite an officer denying him permission to , he continues to pursue them . After an altercation between Morgan and Vescera to show how crazy Morgan is , Rome decides that they have no further use for Vescera and shoots him , leaving the body for the alligators . Kate gets into heated arguments with the group , Angela especially , who strikes Kate whenever she insults her or tries to escape . The criminals eventually arrive at a shack and rest there for the time being . Triton gets delayed when some fugitives attack him . He subdues them both and tracks the gang to the lodge . He arrives and kills Morgan , who was sent out to turn on the electricity , with a knife that Vescera dropped when he was killed . He then kills Bennett when he goes out to check on Morgan , beating him down and stomping on his neck . As he drags the bodies under the shack , the police officer he met earlier " grants " him further permission to do what he must and turns off the electricity for a distraction . Kate takes advantage of this and rushes out of the building , only to be pursued and captured by Angela . John crashes through the window and meets Rome for the first time in his journey . The cop also enters the room and points his gun at John , revealing himself to be working with Rome the whole time ( and thus the mystery individual Rome tried to cut out of the deal in an earlier phone call ) . Rome opens fires at Triton , but he uses the corrupt cop ( V . B . ) as a human shield . Rome makes his escape and joins up with Angela and the still captured Kate before firing at a gasoline tank and destroying the shack . John makes a narrow escape out the window . Rome takes V . B . ' s car and drives off , but because of the police monitor , they have to abandon it , and Angela hitchhikes and shoots a truck driver to steal his trailer - less . John is arrested by an officer in a boat and steals the vessel after handcuffing the officer , heading for Rita ' s Marina ( the destination he heard the criminals speaking of earlier ) . John arrives and sees the truck cab , jumping onto the back . He then sees a bus heading the opposite direction and runs along the running board to the passenger seat where he opens the door , grabs Angela by the neck , and throws her into the bus ' s windshield , killing her and spilling the diamonds . Rome then knocks John off the truck by driving into the side of a building and careens through a warehouse , leaping out before the truck crashes through a window into the lake beyond . Triton confronts him in the fiery warehouse and thinks he kills Rome by burying him in debris after a vicious battle . He rushes to rescue his wife , who is handcuffed inside the sinking truck cab , dragging her from the water and administering CPR successfully . A badly - burned Rome returns and chokes him with a chain . John turns the tables and breaks Rome ' s neck with the chain and the scene ends with John and Kate kissing . Production . The script for The Marine was originally written with Academy Award - winner Al Pacino in mind for the part of Rome , the criminal and Stone Cold Steve Austin as Triton , the lead . After Austin and WWE parted ways in 2004 , the role of John Triton was given to John Cena . Al Pacino turned down the role of Rome due to the low salary offered . After Pacino turned it down , Patrick Swayze was considered for the role of Rome , which was given to Robert Patrick . Principal photography for the film was actually shot and completed in 2004 . In order to cover for John Cena ' s absence from WWE events a storyline was written after Carlito beat Cena for the United States Championship , saying that he was stabbed by Jesús , the bodyguard of Carlito and was taking time off to recover . Filming was done at Movieworld in Gold Coast , Queensland , Australia . The Marine Base was filmed at Bond University . The part in which skyscrapers are shown is the downtown area of Brisbane , Australia , in addition to being filmed throughout the outer areas of the metropolitan area in bush land . Release . Originally planned for a January or February 2006 release , it was later moved to Spring 2006 , then September 8 ( which was changed because former professional wrestler The Rock ' s Gridiron Gang was released September 15 ) . It was finally released to theaters on October 13 , 2006 . The film was released on DVD on January 30 , 2007 . It is available in " Rated " and " Unrated " versions . The Blu - ray version was released on February 13 , 2007 , with a DTS - HD Lossless Master Audio 5 . 1 track and a 1080p HD transfer . The Region 2 DVD was released in the UK on May 7 , 2007 . Box office performance . In its first week , the film made approximately $ 7 . 1 million at the United States box office . In its first weekend , it placed # 3 in domestic sales . On October 22 , 2006 BoxOfficeMojo . com reported that The Marine had dropped to # 9 , grossing $ 3 . 79 million . Even so , ratings were poor , and the movie garnered a 21 % rating from RottenTomatoes . com . After a total of ten weeks in theaters , the film grossed $ 18 . 7 million domestically . Worldwide , The Marine earned $ 20 , 226 , 432 . The Marine is noted as being WWE Studios ' s most successful film to date , beating out its predecessor See No Evil , starring Kane and its successor The Condemned , starring Stone Cold Steve Austin . Reception . The movie was largely panned by critics , Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun referred to it as " a movie so dull , it might actually cause brain damage . " Critics have also complained about the movie ' s reductive dramatization of Marine operations in Iraq , [ 4 ] and its lack of respect for the military . Sequel . The Marine 2 , released on December 29 , 2009 , starring WWE superstar Ted DiBiase , Jr . in the lead role . Unlike the original , it will be released direct - to - DVD . Also unlike the original it will be rated R instead of PG - 13 . WWE superstar Randy Orton , who was a former Marine himself , had originally been scheduled to play the lead role but could not do it due to a collarbone injury . The movie is inspired by true events . DVD sales . The Marine was the # 1 most rented DVD in its first week of release . By March 2007 , it had made over $ 24 million in home sales and rental . Overall , the film made $ 30 million in rentals in the first twelve weeks .