Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in negotiations to star in Snitch, an action thriller which Ric Roman Waugh is writing and directing for Exclusive Media.

The project has been long in development and at one point was set up at New Line with Carl Franklin directing one iteration.

The script centers on a suburban father who is hit hard when his teenage son is sentenced to 30 years under mandatory minimum drug laws. In order to reduce his son's sentence, the father goes undercover to serve up a senior drug dealer. The story is based on a Frontline documentary.

Waugh is rewriting a script by Justin Haythe.

Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Alex Brunner are producing. David Fanning and Gordon Gray are also producing.

Exclusive is eyeing a June start.

Waugh, repped by ICM and Management 360, has shown his gritty mettle writing and directing the gritty crime drama Felon, which starred Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff.

Johnson, who oscillates between family movies and hard-edged actioners, is in his battle mode. He last toplined CBS Films’ Faster and will next be seen starring alongside Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in Fast Five, Universal’s fifth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise.