Dwayne Johnson is entering new territory with his latest role.
On Tuesday, April 29, A24 released the trailer for Johnson’s new movie The Smashing Machine, a biographical drama in which he portrays real-life UFC legend Mark Kerr. Johnson, who holds a long-running career as a WWE wrestler that dates back to before he broke into movies, steps back into a combat sport to portray Kerr, 56, through his mixed martial arts career and the early years of Dana White’s UFC.
An official synopsis for the movie simply describes The Smashing Machine as “the story of legendary mixed martial arts & UFC fighter Mark Kerr.” The trailer meets Johnson as Kerr explaining the UFC to a woman in a waiting room. Costar Emily Blunt, who plays Mark’s then-wife Dawn, is seen rooting for Mark during his fights and supporting him away from the ring, even as he struggles with his training and the associated pain that comes with participating in a high-stakes sport.
Mark’s climactic fight with close friend and fellow Mark Coleman is teased in the trailer, as are arguments — and emotional reunions — with Dawn. At the trailer’s end, Johnson’s character signs an autograph for a young fan and playfully advises him not to get into fighting.
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The real-life Kerr shared the movie’s poster to his Instagram on Monday, April 28 and wrote in a caption to the post that he remains “in disbelief that this is real.” “I am so proud of the work DJ put into becoming The Smashing Machine. I have so much gratitude, humility and respect for every little detail production uncovered,” Kerr wrote in a caption. “Can’t wait to share this experience with the world.”
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Kerr’s career and life story was previously covered in the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr, which displays the mental and physical toll MMA fighting takes on its competitors.
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A24
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine
Aside from Johnson and Blunt — who reunite in The Smashing Machine after they costarred in Disney’s 2021 movie Jungle Cruise — the film also stars Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk. Benny Safdie, the actor and filmmaker who directed movies like Uncut Gems and Good Time, wrote and directed.
The Smashing Machine hits theaters Oct. 3.
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