Dwayne Johnson on his respect for MMA athletes
MMA Junkie spoke to Dwayne Johnson at the L.A. premiere of his new movie ‘The Smashing Machine’.
“The Smashing Machine” may not have been a smash hit at the box office, but it’s not the end of the world for Dwayne Johnson.
The biopic, which stars Johnson as UFC Hall of Famer Mark Kerr during the height of his career in the late 1990s, had a rough opening weekend as it earned only $6 million domestically, well below projections of $8 million to $15 million (H/T Variety). The disappointing numbers are a blow to A24, which spent $50 million to produce the film, and marked the lowest opening for a Johnson film, a record previously previous held by the 2010 thriller “Faster” at $8.5 million.
All that being said, Johnson seemingly took the bad news in stride as he thanked director Benny Safdie for helping to change his life in a heartfelt Instagram post.
“From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched ‘The Smashing Machine,'” Johnson wrote. “In our storytelling world, you can’t control box office results – but what I realized you can control is your performance, and your commitment to completely disappear and go elsewhere. And I will always run to that opportunity.
“It was my honor to transform in this role for my director Benny Safdie. Thank you brother for believing in me. Truth is this film has changed my life.”
The early reviews on “The Smashing Machine,” which also stars Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt as Kerr’s then-girlfriend, have largely been positive. As of this writing, it currently holds a 72% critics approval rating and a 77% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with its IMDb rating 7.0/10. In his review for MMA Junkie, senior writer Mike Bohn called “The Smashing Machine” “a film to appreciate” in the context of comparing it to past MMA movies.
For his part, Johnson is hopeful to receive his first Oscar nomination after Variety hailed his performance as “a revelation.”