The Smashing Machine
Short description
The Smashing Machine follows Mark Kerr, a heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter in the late 1990s who rises to dominance in the sport while struggling with an addiction to opioid painkillers and a turbulent relationship with his wife, Dawn. Kerr came to MMA after a wrestling career that fell short of the Olympic team, and his success in the ring brings pressure from promoters as well as the physical toll that leads him to rely on medication. The film is set largely during his peak years competing in Japan and in the United States.
Benny Safdie directs and writes, marking his sixth feature and his first solo outing after a run that includes Daddy Longlegs, Heaven Knows What, Good Time and Uncut Gems. Dwayne Johnson plays Kerr, with Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, alongside mixed martial artists and fighters appearing as themselves or as figures from the sport, including Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk.
Released in 2025, the film runs 123 minutes and was produced by A24 with Seven Bucks Productions and others on a budget reported at 50 million dollars. It earned about 21 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.3 from around 67,000 votes and on TMDB 6.4 from roughly 710 votes; a critics' rating of 6.3 from 306 reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the filming of a fight scene, Dwayne Johnson (playing the main character) insisted that his co-star Yoko Hamamura hit him without holding back. She initially refused, but Johnson persisted. Director and screenwriter Benny Safdie eventually convinced Hamamura, resulting in a hit so powerful that Johnson suffered a concussion.
- Tequila was kept on set, which proved useful during the filming of the most challenging moments in the relationship between Dwayne Johnson’s and Emily Blunt’s characters.
- For the role of Mark Kerr, actor Dwayne Johnson wore special prosthetics created by Kazu Hiro. Attaching the 21 prosthetics to his body took three to four hours every filming day. Additionally, Johnson worked with a linguist who helped him soften his voice.
- The interior of Mark Kerr’s house was built in a studio pavilion. In the dialogue between Dwayne Johnson’s and Emily Blunt’s characters, director and screenwriter Benny Safdie allowed the actors to improvise.
- For the role of Mark Kerr, actor Dwayne Johnson wore special prosthetics created by Kazu Hiro (a special effects makeup artist and visualist). Hiro previously worked on films such as Joe Wright’s 2017 war drama “Darkest Hour” (where he transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill) and Bradley Cooper’s 2023 biographical drama “Maestro” (where he transformed Cooper into composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein). Applying the 21 prosthetics to his body each filming day took three to four hours. In addition, Johnson worked with a linguist who helped him soften his voice.
- Dwayne Johnson began preparing for the role of a boxer in April 2024, a month before filming began. He first completed a 12-week training course for WrestleMania 40 (the landmark, fortieth show in the history of the American wrestling promotion WWE, which took place in early April 2024 in Philadelphia), and after a ten-day break, he began training for filming with Benny Safdie. Johnson started with cardio (a type of aerobic exercise where a person breathes actively, supplying the body with a lot of oxygen necessary for the oxidation of fats and carbohydrates) on an empty stomach, then weightlifting after lunch, followed by another 15-20 minutes of cardio, and then another hour or half an hour of sparring.
- Bas Rutten, formerly a trainer and close friend of Mark Kerr, played himself. Steven Quadros also played himself, having previously been a commentator for PRIDE fighting (referring to Pride Fighting Championships, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion that existed from 1997 to 2007).
- Dwayne Johnson approached Benny Safdie with the idea of making the film “Crusher” after seeing his 2019 thriller “Uncut Gems.” Safdie agreed and sent Johnson an email accompanied by a Mark Kerr-branded “Nautica” sweater. For some reason, the letter and sweater never reached Johnson, so both – Johnson and Safdie – assumed the matter was closed due to lack of interest. In 2023, Safdie was filming Emily Blunt in the historical drama “Oppenheimer” and asked her if Johnson had received the package with the sweater back then. This led to her reconnecting Johnson and Safdie, and they revisited the idea of a film about Kerr, with Blunt taking on one of the roles.
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