Tag: The Smashing Machine

New trailer released for The Rock’s ‘Smashing Machine’ movie

Posted on by Joseph Currier

To hype the movie’s fast-approaching release, A24 has released a new trailer for its film “The Smashing Machine” — starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as MMA legend Mark Kerr.

The film is set to be released on October 3 of this year. It marks a potential turning point in Johnson’s Hollywood career as he looks to show people he can be more than just a blockbuster star chasing box office numbers. Johnson plays the soft-spoken Kerr in a movie that tells the story of Kerr’s MMA stardom, his battle with painkiller addiction, and his relationship with his wife Dawn.

“The Smashing Machine” is directed and written by Benny Safdie, with Emily Blunt starring opposite Johnson. The movie received a standing ovation at the recent Venice International Film Festival. There has been buzz about Johnson potentially receiving award nominations for his performance.

After gaining muscle for the “Smashing Machine” role, Johnson has dropped a dramatic amount of weight for an upcoming role in another movie from director Safdie.

Johnson is also attached to star in a planned Hawaiian mob film directed by Martin Scorsese.

In WWE, Johnson was part of John Cena’s heel turn at Elimination Chamber this March but then took a step back from the angle without any direct follow-up. Cena turned back babyface over the summer.

Mark Kerr announced for UFC Hall of Fame, The Rock to attend ceremony

Posted on by Josh Nason

With a movie on his life coming out in October, it was fitting that MMA legend Mark Kerr was announced as the final entrant into this year’s UFC Hall of Fame class.

That is why it’s also fitting that the man playing him in that movie — Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson — will also be in attendance for the ceremony.

Kerr’s induction was revealed during Saturday’s UFC 316. Lead announcer Jon Anik said that Johnson, a member of TKO’s board, would be there for the ceremony to be held on Thursday, June 26th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be part of this year’s International Fight Week.

Kerr joins Vitor Belfort, Robbie Lawler, Craig Piligian, and Amanda Nunes in this year’s class.

Kerr, the heavyweight tournament winner of both UFC 14 and UFC 15, will be inducted as the 21st member of the Pioneer Era wing which honors fighters who turned pro before November 17, 2000; are 35 years old; and have been retired for a year or more.

“The Smashing Machine” comes out in theaters on Friday, October 3rd. Johnson plays Kerr while Emily Blunt plays his girlfriend, Dawn Staples.

Trailer for The Rock’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ released

Posted on by Ian Carey

A trailer for the film “The Smashing Machine” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as MMA legend Mark Kerr has been released.

The Rock posted the film’s trailer to social media on Tuesday, writing, “Excited to share the official trailer for Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE, starring Dwayne Johnson and Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt. In theaters October 3rd.”

Other former and current MMA fighters are featured in the movie as well, including Bas Rutten playing himself, Ryan Bader playing Mark Coleman, and Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn.

The Smashing Machine was produced by A24, the studio behind The Iron Claw, in collaboration with The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions. Filming took place from May to August 2024 in New Mexico, Tokyo, and Vancouver.

The film borrows its title from a 2002 HBO documentary on Kerr. Plans to adapt Kerr’s life story into a movie were first announced in 2019, with Kerr giving the project his blessing. Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) serves as writer and director for the film.

The Smashing Machine is set to release in theatres on October 3, 2025.

The Rock-led ‘Smashing Machine’ movie sets theatrical release date

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The theatrical release date for The Smashing Machine led by Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson is now official.

A24 announced Wednesday that the movie based on the life of former MMA/UFC star Mark Kerr will hit theaters on Friday, October 3rd of this year.

The film is directed and written by Bennie Safdie and also stars Emily Blunt who Johnson has appeared alongside in Disney’s Jungle Cruise.

From the Deadline news on the release date:

“(The movie) follows Kerr (Johnson) from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career as he questions himself and struggles with life and his relationships. Meanwhile, Mark’s girlfriend Dawn Staples (Blunt) struggles as well to find her place in Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.”

The 56-year-old Kerr was an NCAA Division I amateur wrestling champion in addition to other global tournaments. He won two of the early UFC heavyweight tournaments (UFC 14 and 15) and also competed in PRIDE. He last fought in August 2009 and ended his career on a five-fight losing streak.

He was the focus of a 2002 documentary of the same name.

The first image of Johnson playing Kerr came out nearly a year ago. He suffered an elbow injury while filming the movie which he chalked up to soft tissue damage.

The Rock suffers elbow injury during movie filming

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though he was able to make it out of WrestleMania 40 unscathed, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is now dealing with an elbow injury suffered during movie filming.

After competing at WrestleMania, Johnson started filming on “The Smashing Machine,” a biopic on MMA legend Mark Kerr. Johnson made an Instagram post on Tuesday revealing that he got banged up during filming today. Showing off his swollen elbow, Johnson said it looks like he has a cantaloupe in the bottom of his arm. He needs to wait for the fluid to go away before he gets an MRI.

“As you guys know, I’m filming a movie called ‘The Smashing Machine.’ And anytime your film is called ‘The Smashing Machine,’ well, you’re kind of going to get smashed up,” Johnson said. “Look at that sucker right there. It looks like I have a cantaloupe in the bottom of my elbow. I got banged up pretty good today in our scenes. And then there might be some soft tissue damage in there. That’s a lot of fluid. We’ll see. I got to get it out of there first before I get any kind of any MRI.”

Johnson said everything is all good and joked that he’s already feeling better after drinking some of his Teremana tequila.

WrestleMania 40 was Johnson’s first real pro wrestling match in more than a decade. He pinned Cody Rhodes in a tag team match at night one of the event. The next night, Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship. A Rhodes vs. Johnson match is being built up to take place down the line.

TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, announced this January that Johnson has joined its Board of Directors.

First look at The Rock as MMA legend Mark Kerr in ‘The Smashing Machine’

Posted on by Ian Carey

A first look at The Rock in the upcoming film “The Smashing Machine” has been revealed.

Rock, who plays MMA legend Mark Kerr in the movie, posted an image from its first day of production to Instagram on Tuesday. Emily Blunt, who also appeared in 2021’s Jungle Cruise with The Rock, can be seen in the photo as well. She plays Dawn Staples, Kerr’s wife.

“First look at Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE starring @therock and Emily Blunt. #day1 #startofproduction #thesmashingmachine,” Rock captioned his post with. A24 Films also posted the image to X.

Benny Safdie wrote the script for the film, which shares its name with the well-reviewed 2002 documentary on Kerr’s career and struggles with addiction to pain medication. The project was first announced in 2019, with Kerr having given it his blessing. Filming locations are set for Vancouver, Los Angeles, New Mexico, and Tokyo, Japan. Filming is expected to be completed by August 1, 2024.