Dwayne Johnson got his start in the world of entertainment inside the ring with his WWE persona The Rock. Well, his next movie, The Smashing Machine, is taking him back inside the ring, or accurately the octagon, as he portrays a famous UFC fighter, Mark Kerr.
Johnson has almost exclusively been starring in big-budget blockbusters and family movies in recent years (think the Fast and Furious franchise and Moana 2), but The Smashing Machine hails from A24, the fan-favorite distributor that releases more filmmaker-driven, character-based movies (some of their 2025 movies have included Parthenope and Warfare). So this marks a bit of a change-up for Johnson.
So what do you need to know about The Smashing Machine? Read on for all we have right now on when the movie is coming out, who else stars in it, the movie’s trailer and more.
The Smashing Machine release date
The Smashing Machine will premiere exclusively in movie theaters on October 3.
The Smashing Machine cast
Dwayne Johnson plays Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, while co-starring alongside Johnson in the movie as Kerr’s partner, Dawn Staples, is Emily Blunt. This will be the second movie that Johnson and Blunt have starred in together, with their previous collaboration being in 2021’s Jungle Cruise.
Helping to fill out The Smashing Machine cast are real-life former UFC fighters, including Bas Rutten, who has appeared in a handful of other movies before (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Here Comes the Boom), and Ryan Bader and Oleksandr Usyk, both of whom are making their big screen debuts with this movie.
The Smashing Machine plot
Benny Safdie wrote the script for The Smashing Machine. As of right now, this is the only plot description that has been made available from A24: “The story of legendary mixed martial arts & UFC fighter Mark Kerr.”
For some additional background, Mark Kerr was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, active predominantly before the sport became the international sensation that it is today. He also competed in high-profile mixed martial arts tournaments, Vale Tudo and PRIDE FC.
A documentary about Kerr, also titled The Smashing Machine, was released by HBO in 2002. In addition to charting his career, the documentary also focused on Kerr’s struggles with substance abuse and his personal relationships with his then-girlfriend and fellow mixed martial artist Mark Coleman.
The Smashing Machine trailer
Watch The Smashing Machine trailer directly below:
The Smashing Machine director
In addition to writing the script, Benny Safdie directs The Smashing Machine.
Safdie is an actor, writer, director and producer that most viewers will probably know from his roles in Licorice Pizza, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, Oppenheimer and The Curse. As a director though, he has co-directed a number of movies with his brother Josh Safdie, including the acclaimed Good Time and Uncut Gems, as well as some documentaries and smaller indie movies. However, The Smashing Machine is set to be Benny Safdie’s first solo-directed movie.
Here is a look at Safdie’s feature directing credits to date:
- Daddy Longlegs (2009)
- Buttons (2011)
- Lenny Cooke (2013)
- Heaven Knows What (2014)
- Good Time (2017)
- Uncut Gems (2019)
The Smashing Machine behind the scenes
Johnson and Safdie are both producers on The Smashing Machine, along with Eli Bush, Danny Garcia, Hiram Garcia and David Koplan.
The movie is an A24 production, along with Out for the Count and Seven Bucks Productions.
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