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Central Intelligence

2016 film by Rawson Marshall Thurber

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ19867575
Source-derived summary

Central Intelligence is a 2016 American buddy action comedy film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and written by Thurber, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen. The film stars Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart as two old high school classmates who go on the run after one of them joins the CIA to save the world from a terrorist who intends to sell satellite codes.

The film premiered at the Regency Village Theater on June 10, 2016, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 17, 2016 by Warner Bros. Pictures and in international markets by Universal Pictures. Central Intelligence received mixed-to-positive reviews, praise from critics for Johnson and Hart's performances but criticism for the script, and was a commercial success, grossing over $217 million worldwide against its $50 million budget.

Plot

In 1996, star athlete Calvin "The Golden Jet" Joyner is being honored at his school, Central High. Halfway through his speech, a group of bullies led by Trevor Olson throws the obese nerd Robbie Weirdicht (who was taking a shower and dancing happily to "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" on a radio in the boys’ locker room) naked into the gymnasium in the middle of an assembly. Everyone starts laughing except for Joyner and his girlfriend, Maggie Johnson, who are the only ones sympathetic towards Weirdicht; Joyner even going as far as to quickly cover him with his varsity jacket in a moment of compassion. Weirdicht thanks Joyner and flees in humiliation and embarrassment.

Twenty years later, Joyner is married to Maggie and works as a forensic accountant, but is dissatisfied with his career.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Central Intelligence” as 2016 film by Rawson Marshall Thurber. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Central, Intelligence and film.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2016, 1996—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Central, Intelligence and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Central Intelligence”, the useful work is to connect “2016 film by Rawson Marshall Thurber” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19867575. The first chronological checks are 2016 and 1996.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Central Intelligence”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Central Intelligence primary sources, Central Intelligence archive and Central research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Central Intelligence”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Central Intelligence” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.