The Mark Kerr MMA movie underperformed at the box office.
‘The Smashing Machine’ follows the incredible fighting career and life story of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Kerr, played by an almost unrecognizable Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
The A24-produced biopic received quite the reception at its premiere with a fifteen-minute standing ovation for the cast as the credits rolled.
However, whenever it comes to box office numbers, ‘The Smashing Machine’ simply didn’t hit the mark.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson on ‘The Smashing Machine’: ‘Can’t control box office results’
‘The Smashing Machine’ placed third at last weekend’s box office, earning $5.9M during opening weekend.
The MMA movie was beaten by Taylor Swift’s ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’, which garnered $33M, and ‘One Battle After Another’ ($11M), starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Johnson released a statement following the box office numbers.
“From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched “The Smashing Machine”,” the actor wrote on Instagram.
“In our storytelling world, you can’t control box office results,” Johnson added.
“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 @bowedtie. Thank you brother for believing in me.
“Truth is this film has changed my life.
“With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy, dj,” Johnson concluded.
‘The Smashing Machine’ is Johnson’s lowest-grossing opening weekend ever.
The film’s production budget was $50M, according to Variety, expected to lose $10-15M.
‘The Smashing Machine’ featured combat sports royalty
The film centered around Mark Kerr featured a number of fighters.
Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk made his major movie debut in ‘The Smashing Machine’, playing the role of Ukrainian MMA legend and former Kerr foe, Igor Vovchanchyn.
Former Bellator two-division champion and UFC veteran Ryan Bader played the role of Kerr’s friend and training partner, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman.
MMA legend Bas Rutten played himself in the movie. Rutten was also in the MMA comedy ‘Here Comes The Boom’ (2012) alongside Kevin James.