Did Dwayne Johnson create an unwanted record in his Hollywood career? The Brahma Bull’s latest project, The Smashing Machine, had impressed the critics with how different it was from other biopics. Disappointingly, the same opinion has not been shared among the fans, leading to Johnson having the lowest opening in his acting career with just $6 million from 3,345 venues (via Variety).
The reputed media house further reported that Benny Safdie’s project cost $50 million in production alone, with many more millions spent on promotion and its premiere at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. The underwhelming opening is a new low for The Final Boss’ career, grossing lower than his 2010 flick, Faster, which grossed $8.52 million (via The Numbers).
The film looked impressive right from the release of its trailer, showcasing how Johnson dedicated himself to the flick, undergoing a massive physical transformation. The news of the movie’s underwhelming opening spread on X (@CultureCrave) like wildfire, and the film connoisseurs were taken aback. However, they defended the movie, stating how “Box office doesn’t take away from a film being good,” and the Red Notice actor gave the “best performance” of his career.
The Smashing Machine: How Mark Kerr’s Lack of Popularity Affects His Biopic
Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is an honest biography based on the life of Mark Kerr, the MMA icon with a record of 15 wins and 11 losses. He exploded onto the scene and earned the nickname of ‘The Smashing Machine,’ especially because of his outstanding performance in the World Vale Tudo Championship in 1997, defeating three successive opponents (via Independent).
His dominant performance earned him an invite from UFC, which was considered extremely controversial. Several US politicians wanted to ban it outright, leading to major cities refusing to host the events, eventually drying up the TV coverage. Consequently, Kerr left UFC and travelled to Japan to become a part of the PRIDE Fighting Championship, where he made regular appearances.
Though this move helped him financially, it denied him having a global fanbase like today’s athletes, such as Conor McGregor, Brock Lesnar, Khabib Nurmagomedov, or Ronda Rousey. The major reason was that MMA was an emerging sport in the late 90s and early 2000s and was fighting its way into mainstream popularity like WWE.
Since MMA lacked global coverage and recognition, most fans are unaware of Kerr’s legacy and achievements that he cemented inside the MMA world. This was the major setback and became one of the reasons behind the film’s lack of allure and buzz among fans.
Dwayne Johnson Breaks Down Why The Smashing Machine Feels Different From His Past Projects
Over the years, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has starred in a plethora of films such as Jumanji, Journey 2, San Andreas, Fast and the Furious, and many more. Each film has been a smash-hit blockbuster, showcasing how he can bring in a blend of humor with his undeniable action star charisma. Hence, everyone felt the same when he decided to portray the role of Mark Kerr.
That was not the case! Instead of showcasing Kerr’s life’s biggest moments, Safdie decided to showcase the MMA icon’s life’s ups and downs and how he has been tough on the people around him. During an exclusive interview with Deadline during the film’s premiere in LA, Johnson believed there was “something unique” with Kerr’s life and how the film decided to show his life behind the action. He said,
Fighting just happened to be what he did, and he was awesome at it. But it’s not a fight movie, it’s a life movie.
The film happened to show exactly like that, where Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt) became Mike Kerr’s (Dwayne Johnson) biggest distraction and the cause of his downfall. That was not all because Safdie decided to go the extra mile with his cinematography to showcase flawed camera work during the fight scenes, ensuring that the fights did not have the polished camera work like today.
This unconventional approach became one of the many strengths of the film, making it the most authentic biographical film that one should not sleep on.
The Smashing Machine has everything that makes it worthy of being a massive hit at the box office, but do you think that Mark Kerr’s limited recognition is hindering it from creating a buzz among fans? Let us know in the comments below!
The Smashing Machine can be watched in theaters near you!
