Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
A24 released this first look of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, which is currently filming:
First look at Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE starring @TheRock and Emily Blunt. pic.twitter.com/GVC2XIHwGV
— A24 (@A24) May 21, 2024
The film is an adaptation of the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Mark Kerr.
Mark Kerr, now 55, won two UFC Heavyweight Tournaments, competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championship, was a NCAA Division I champion and a World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner over the course of his MMA career. The 2002 documentary was acclaimed at the time of its release:
Johnson announced he would be portraying Kerr back in November 2019, but the project was obviously delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rock's production company Seven Bucks is producing. Emily Blunt, who worked with The Rock on Disney's Jungle Cruise, will portray Kerr's wife, Dawn Staples.
The film is currently slated to film through 8/1 in Los Angeles and New Mexico domestically as well as Tokyo, Japan and Vancouver, British Columbia internationally.. That would likely take him out of doing anything physical for WWE during that time period.
Benny Safdie, who co-directed and co-wrote the great Adam Sandler crime thriller Uncut Gems, wrote the screenplay and is directing The Smashing Machine.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
