Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is best known for his crowd-pleasing, family-friendly films, so everyone was shocked when it was announced that he would be teaming up with A24 for a movie directed by Benny Safdie.
Just in, we have our first look at him as MMA legend Mark Kerr, and Johnson is literally unrecognizable. Check this out:
First look at Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE starring @TheRock and Emily Blunt. pic.twitter.com/GVC2XIHwGV
— A24 (@A24) May 21, 2024
By the looks of it, Johnson has been given a wig and a prosthetic nose, but his physique brings the whole look together.
For context, Kerr was a UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion from 1997-2009, and his body was definitely just as big (if not bigger) than Johnson’s in this film.
There was actually a documentary that came out back in 2002 also titled The Smashing Machine, and it followed Kerr’s journey as an MMA fighter as well as his struggles with substance abuse and his relationships with partners and ex-girlfriends.
Seeing that the Rock has a very wholesome image that he tries very hard to maintain, it was pretty interesting to see him jump into a project with a Safdie brother. Just looking at how Safdie is able to make such arthouse movies with stars like Robert Pattinson (Good Time) and Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems), a collaboration with the Rock feels like it could change everyone’s perception of Johnson as a sexless muscleman who can only do one kind of character in the same kinds of movies.
The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson is set to come out in theaters sometime in 2025.
