Dwayne Johnson rocks theaters in 'San Andreas'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson endures the shake, rattle and roll of a big summer movie with the new thriller, "San Andreas."

Johnson said it was the director of "Jaws" who helped inspire the film.

"I swear to God, it came down to this question, 'Would Steven Spielberg love this movie?' It came down to that," Johnson said.

Johnson and his "San Andreas" team are ready to rumble during this very competitive summer movie season.

"A lot of big movies. Super hero movies, franchises, I was part of one in 'Fast and Furious.'" Johnson said. "But look, we're just this little underdog of a movie that's original and comes along but yet the content, the scale is epic."

The actor loves the big action-thriller movies of the past. With "San Andreas," while the scale and the effects may be epic, Johnson says it's the human element that he thinks will draw in audiences.

"In movies like this, you can easily start to sway into and rely on the dazzling special effects," Johnson said. "But I think if you create a movie where you care about the characters and root it and anchor it in family, a family trying to get back together, then you have a shot at making a movie that has legs."

"San Andreas" is rated PG 13. It hits theaters Friday, May 29.