Firass Dirani as Rebel Leader Frank Carlopio as Frank Jeff Chase as Billy Jamal Duff as Paul Production The Marine was originally written with Al Pacino in mind for the part of criminal Rome, with Stone Cold Steve Austin as hero Triton. After Austin and WWE parted ways in 2004, Randy Orton was set to be the main character. Orton turned down the role because of his bad conduct discharge from the Marines in the late 1990s, and was replaced by John Cena. Pacino turned down the role of Rome due to the low salary offered. After Pacino turned it down, Ray Liotta was considered for the role of Rome, but Robert Patrick got the part instead. 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 WWE United States Championship, saying that he was stabbed by Carlito's bodyguard Jesús and was taking time off to recover. Filming was done at Movie World Studios 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. Other footage was shot in bush land surrounding Brisbane. The opening segment of the downtown scenes was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Cena was approached by Vince McMahon to do the movie which he accepted for outside fame. On making the movie he said "I enjoyed the business plan, I didn't enjoy the experience". Release Box office In its first weekend, the film made approximately $7.1 million at the United States box office. In its first weekend, it placed #6 domestically. After a total of ten weeks in theaters, the film grossed $18.8 million domestically. Critical response The film received mostly negative reviews, holding a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews (with an average rating of 4 out of 10), with the site's general consensus stating "Overblown in every possible way, The Marine is either so bad it's good or just really, really bad." Eric the Actor was a fan of the film and wanted to promote the film due his fondness for Cena on the Howard Stern Show; however, his promotion and rally for people to go and see this film failed. Home media The film was released on DVD on January