Dwayne Johnson‘s The Smashing Machine didn’t land a knockout on the field workplace, persevering with a disappointing development in his Hollywood standing. After gaining notoriety as The Rock within the WWE, Johnson first pivoted to appearing with 2001’s The Mummy Returns. He rapidly grew to become a star on the large display, elevating movies along with his charisma and action-star qualities.
He was extremely sought-after by many studios, as his identify may result in increased field workplace potential. He is typically credited for turning the Quick and Livid franchise round, because the collection grew to become a field workplace juggernaut following 2011’s Quick 5. Nevertheless, after nearly 25 years within the trade, he is focusing much less on income and extra on difficult himself.
His newest movie, The Smashing Machine, could also be his greatest efficiency but and is producing doable Oscar buzz. Sadly, the reward for Johnson’s efficiency didn’t compete with Taylor Swift on the field workplace, as the movie solely made $6 million domestically in its opening weekend. Whereas it’s a smaller movie, it could sign that Johnson’s standing as a field workplace king is formally over.
The Smashing Machine Is The Newest Reside-Motion Dwayne Johnson Movie To Underperform At The Field Workplace
The Smashing Machine is a sports activities biopic from A24 about MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Directed by Benny Safdie, the movie stars Johnson as Kerr and tracks his journey as he faces bodily and inner struggles whereas pursuing greatness in his combating profession. Regardless of its true story, the movie closely promotes The Rock’s transformation into Kerr and his dedicated efficiency within the position.
Sadly, that might not be sufficient to show a revenue. Its $6 million opening weekend is tough, particularly because the movie has a $50 million finances. Whereas A24 usually does not make motion pictures for broad field workplace attraction, failing to interrupt even on this movie with Johnson can be extremely disappointing.
Nevertheless, it would not be solely shocking contemplating the outcomes of Johnson’s current initiatives. The actor hasn’t had a live-action theatrical hit since 2019’s Jumanji: The Subsequent Stage. Movies like Jungle Cruise, Black Adam, and Crimson One underperformed and didn’t capitalize on Johnson’s perceived field workplace draw.
The exception to Johnson’s current struggles is 2024’s Moana 2, which kicked off a historic Thanksgiving field workplace on its solution to incomes over $1.05 billion worldwide. Nevertheless, few would seemingly outline the animated movie as a Dwayne Johnson film; the recognition of the characters is undoubtedly what drew audiences in, as evidenced by Moana‘s streaming dominance within the previous years.
Taking a look at Johnson’s live-action efforts, Jungle Cruise made $220 million on a $200 million manufacturing finances, and thus seemingly didn’t flip in a real revenue. Nevertheless, its field workplace struggles might be blamed extra on its proximity to the COVID-19 pandemic, because it launched theatrically and on Disney+ on the identical day in 2021. Sadly, Black Adam does not have the identical excuse.
The DC movie made $393 million worldwide on a $200 million finances. Whereas it wasn’t a disastrous flop, it additionally failed to vary the panorama of the DCEU because it marketed. It might not be The Rock’s fault for the movie’s failure, because it obtained poor evaluations, and premiered at a time when audiences had misplaced curiosity in DC.
Simply final 12 months, Crimson One was a large field workplace flop and solely made $186 million worldwide on a $250 million finances. Whereas audiences who noticed it appeared to benefit from the Christmas motion flick, a 30% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes might have been what stored audiences away.
One connection between these movies is that they obtained mixed-to-poor evaluations from critics. Whereas The Smashing Machine‘s evaluations are largely constructive, The Rock’s current poor decision-making for initiatives might have turned audiences away from his movies. In the event that they’ve begun to affiliate him with unsatisfying motion pictures, then maybe he is now not an interesting purpose to enterprise out to the theater.
Johnson’s field workplace struggles could also be alarming, however there are alternatives for him to get again on monitor. 2026’s live-action Moana movie will seemingly do very properly, particularly after the animated sequel’s aforementioned success. There’s additionally a 3rd Jumanji movie on the best way, that means Johnson‘s field workplace woes may come to an finish subsequent 12 months. For now, although, it is secure to say he is not fairly as infallible as he as soon as was.
- 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