Universal Pictures and Legendary are wasting no time moving forward with Dwayne Johnson's Red Notice, with the studio setting a June 12, 2020 release date for this new action-thriller. This comes just a month after Universal won a heated bidding war for the project that was bid on by almost every studio in town, along with Netflix. The project reunites The Rock with his Central Intelligence and Skyscraper director Rawson Marshall Thurber. Here's what Dwayne Johnson had to say on Instagram this morning, sharing a photo of himself at dinner with Thurber and producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia, where the Red Notice idea was first pitched to Johnson, while sharing new plot details.

"Cool news. Mark the date: Universal Studios declares June 12, 2020 the official theatrical release date for our Red Notice. It all started at this dinner where the idea of Red Notice was first pitched to me by our writer/director @rawsonthurber to my left. Producers @flynnpictureco & @hhgarcia41on the flanks. I'll play an Interpol Agent who treads the globe to hunt down the greatest art thief the world has ever seen. You may recall this was the idea that caused quite the bidding war in Hollywood a few months ago, leading to a very big groundbreaking sale. It all starts with a dream, hard work... and lots of tequila. Save the date: Red Notice: June 12, 2020."

When we reported on the bidding war that Universal Pictures won last month, it was revealed that Dwayne Johnson would take home a $20 million payday to star, with Rawson Marshall Thurber also getting a whopping eight-figure salary to both write the script and direct. The movie is budgeted at $125 million, and it's also a "two-hander," meaning the studio will still need to find another A-lister to star, presumably as the art thief, alongside The Rock. Production is expected to begin in the spring of 2019.

This marks the second time that Universal and Legendary are teaming up on a Dwayne Johnson star vehicle, with the first being this summer's Skyscraper, slated to hit theaters on July 13. This project follows the same type of trajectory as Skyscraper, with the original Red Notice pitch laying out the entire movie for executives before writing the script. Universal and Legendary then put it on the fast track. Dwayne Johnson was said to have moved his schedule around so he could shoot Red Notice next spring, but it remains unclear which project, or projects, may have been pushed back as a result.

As of now, Red Notice has no direct competition in its June 12, 2020 release slot, but it will be flanked by an untitled DC project on June 5, 2020 and an untitled Pixar animation project on June 19, 2020. Dwayne Johnson has New Line's Rampage arriving on April 13, followed by Skyscraper on July 13. He will also start production on the Fast & Furious spin-off with Jason Statham this year, which has been given a July 26, 2019 release date, and he also has numerous other projects in the works like Black Adam, Doc Savage, Jungle Cruise, Big Trouble in Little China, The Janson Directive, San Andreas 2 and Jumanji 2. Take a look at the photo posted on Dwayne Johnson Instagram of the dinner where Red Notice all started.