The story of The Marine is essentially a story of not getting what you want... and then, not getting the thing you wanted after that. You see, the titular marine role was originally offered to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, who parted ways with WWE in 2004 before production began. Soon after, the role was awarded to "The Viper," Randy Orton, whose own personal experience with the US Marine Corps (a "bad conduct discharge," specifically) made way for for budding superstar, John Cena, to take the role instead .

A similar story goes for the lead villain character of Rome, which was originally offered to Al Pacino, who refused due to the low salary. Ray Liotta was considered before Terminator 2's Robert Patrick getting the role. Despite getting made in 2004, the film didn't see the light of day until 2006, though thankfully, the military theme was still heavily resonant as the U.S. was still balls-deep in "The Iraq War 2: I Rock Harder."

It's a shame the movie what this movie could have been, when -- in reality -- it's John Cena running around in the woods, trying to find his wife (Nip/Tuck's Kelly Carlson). If only they'd just marketed that, instead.