Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan just lately applauded Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic efficiency in his film The Smashing Machine. The MMA film dramatizes Mark Kerr’s life as an MMA fighter, showcasing his profession highs and private lows. The A24 movie takes place between the late 90s to early 2000s, depicting his struggles with substance abuse and a turbulent relationship along with his then-girlfriend, Daybreak Staples (Emilu Blunt).
On the DGA theater in Los Angeles, Nolan was a part of a Q&A session, the place he mentioned The Smashing Machine with director Benny Safdie. Whereas speaking concerning the film’s improvement and its stars, Johnson’s efficiency as Kerr turned the main focus, through which Nolan mentioned the next: “It’s heartbreaking. I believe it’s an unbelievable efficiency. I don’t suppose you’ll see a greater efficiency this yr.“
Whereas Johnson is thought for portraying action-heavy roles, corresponding to Hobbs within the Quick & Livid franchise and Spencer Gilpin within the Jumanji franchise, his efficiency as Mark Kerr marks his most dramatic function but. The wrestler-turned-actor earned a lot of award buzz within the months main as much as the film’s launch, with trailers highlighting his unbelievable transformation as Kerr.
Whereas the biopic has earned a worthy 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it hasn’t accomplished nicely on the field workplace. The A24 film debuted to simply $5.9 million domestically, which marks the bottom opening weekend for any Johnson movie. It was additionally nicely under projections, which had been set at round $17–20 million. It has at the moment totaled simply over $13 million within the final two and a half weeks since its launch, regardless of having a reported $50 million finances.
Regardless of the poor field workplace for The Smashing Machine, that will not deter Johnson from pursuing extra dramatic roles. The actor spoke about desirous to problem himself, which meant pivoting away from his ordinary motion efficiency.
Johnson is constant to take these drastic measures. Simply days earlier than The Smashing Machine‘s launch, the star had noticeably misplaced an unbelievable quantity of weight. Regardless of some issues on-line, the actor has since clarified that this weight-reduction plan was to organize for his 70-year-old function, through which he befriends a hen in Lizard Music. The movie will reunite him with Safdie, who is about to direct.
Moreover, Johnson will reunite with Blunt within the upcoming Hawaiian-themed mob film produced by Martin Scorsese. The untitled movie is described as “Goodfellas-styled,” going down within the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies. The forged can also be rounded out by Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Blunt just lately hyped the upcoming film, calling it “the final nice American mob story” and shared that it is a “terribly thrilling function” for Johnson.
- Launch Date
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October 3, 2025
- Runtime
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123 minutes
- Director
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Benny Safdie
- Writers
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Benny Safdie
- Producers
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Beau Flynn, David Koplan, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia