Dwayne Johnson has electrified audiences for three decades as The Rock in the WWE. Drawing from that experience in professional wrestling, Johnson will play former MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the A24 biopic The Smashing Machine.
“Winning is the best feeling in the world,” Johnson’s Kerr says in the official trailer. “It’s 40,000 people in there cheering you on. There’s no other high like it in the world.”
Kerr rose to prominence in the late 1990s after becoming a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion. Kerr fought some of the fiercest competitors in mixed martial arts. However, Kerr’s greatest challenge came outside the ropes, as he struggled with substance abuse and addiction. The real-life Kerr was the subject of the HBO documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.
Emily Blunt stars as Dawn Staples, Kerr’s then-girlfriend and future wife. Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk also star.
Benny Safdie writes and directs The Smashing Machine in his solo directorial feature debut. Safdie is best known for Good Time and Uncut Gems, two movies he directed with his brother Josh. The Smashing Machine‘s producers are Johnson, Safdie, David Koplan, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia, and Eli Bush.
The Smashing Machine is a shift in tone for Johnson. The soon-to-be 53-year-old has become known for his work in franchises and blockbusters, including Moana, Red Notice, Black Adam, Hobbs & Shaw, and Jumanji. Johnson’s last live-action movie, Red One, was a box office bomb before becoming a streaming hit on Prime Video.
The Smashing Machine is Johnson’s attempt at a prestige play. It’s a smaller, character-driven project with an awards season release. The Academy typically rewards physical transformations with heavy use of prosthetics. Having never been nominated, Johnson likely won’t receive an Oscar nomination.
However, Johnson clearly wants to change his career trajectory and start working with more auteurs. Johnson will soon star in a Martin Scorsese Hawaiian crime drama alongside Blunt and Leonardo DiCaprio.
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