The Rock is undertaking his first genuinely interesting role in 12 years for Uncut Gems director Bennie Safdie.
Here’s our first look at The Smashing Machine, which sees stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt reunite for the first time since 2021’s Jungle Cruise. And that’s where the similarities end.
Written, directed, co-produced, and edited by Benny Safdie, one half of the Safdie Brothers, A24’s The Smashing Machine tells the tale of real life two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion Mark Kerr (Johnson).
Now, these days, UFC is damn near respectable, but Kerr hails from a time when it was barely more than a a street fight, and hardly more regulated. Kerr’s story was previously told in the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr, directed by John Hyams (son of Peter, and director of Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning). That film was a pretty unblinking look at the harsh realities of the fighting biz, and dealt heavily with Kerr’s painkiller addiction, and odds are good we can expect Safdie’s film to cover similar territory.
Emily Blunt is on board as Dawn Staples, Kerr’s now-ex-wife, while MMA fighter Ryan Bader is Mark Coleman, Kerr’s fellow combatant and frenemy.
Okay, lets go the the trailer.
Definite notes of The Wrestler and The Iron Claw, which is probably unavoidable, but man, The Rock is just unrecognisable, isn’t he? It may be hard to believe, but the big guy used to be a really interesting actor, putting in idiosyncratic turns in stuff like Be Cool and Southland Tales. But the last time he did anything even remotely outside his comfort zone was 2013’s Pain & Gain, which is essentially Michael Bay doing a Coen brothers movie. It’s amazing, but it died at the box office, so I’ll be getting along to this because, all other considerations aside, I thought we had nothing but cookie-cutter Johnson performances to look forward to from here until his inevitable Presidential bid.
The Smashing Machine is in cinemas from October 2, 2025.
