The Smashing Machine could be one of the most-anticipated movies to be released this year if you’re a fan of competitive violence. Dwayne Johnson, better known by his WWE persona The Rock, ruled the squared circle of sports entertainment and has conquered the business world as a co-owner of the UFL. He’ll soon make a return to the silver screen as the star of The Smashing Machine, a film that he also produced.
The Smashing Machine, currently set to release this October in movie theaters by A24 Pictures, chronicles the life and career of UFC heavyweight legend Mark Kerr.
Throughout his time in the cage, Kerr, a former NCAA Division I National Champion in wrestling, went 15-11 with one no-contest in 27 career MMA fights with a 4-0 record in the UFC over the course of two single-night tournaments in the second half of 1997. Upon leaving the UFC, he turned his attention to Pride, where he remained through 2004.
The Smashing Machine Turned Into Movie Starring Dwayne Johnson
In 2002, the HBO premium cable network immortalized Mark Kerr’s early career in combat sports in a made-for-TV documentary film, featuring interviews from Kerr, Bas Rutten, and Kerr’s now-ex-wife Dawn Staples. Key subjects touched on during the film include Kerr’s struggles with addiction to pain medication and the UFC’s early struggles to operate as an organization due to being banned from broadcast on a number of cable television systems.
The TV documentary is currently available on DVD and through online streaming. More than 20 years after the original version of the story was televised, The Smashing Machine is getting a second look with Dwayne Johnson in the starring role.
Johnson, who was cast in the updated version of the story in 2023, plays Kerr, while actress Emily Blunt plays Dawn Staples, Kerr’s wife. Tuesday morning, the film’s official trailer was released on both the A24 Pictures YouTube channel and Dwayne Johnson’s own channel.
It isn’t the first time that Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt have starred in the same film. Prior to the release of The Smashing Machine, the two worked together in the 2021 Walt Disney Pictures release Jungle Cruise.
The Smashing Machine Trailer Shows Johnson as Amazing Look-Alike of Mark Kerr
While most fans of sports entertainment and Dwayne Johnson’s movies are accustomed to seeing the star of this bio-pic with no hair, he’s transformed into the spitting image of the real Mark Kerr for his role in the film. In any biographical motion picture on any subject, not just sports, authenticity is a most salient key in both accuracy of the subject being portrayed and the character’s appearance.
Dwayne Johnson looks exactly like Mark Kerr here. It’s an incredible makeover. Just look at the real Kerr in his 1997 fight versus Moti Horenstein in UFC 14 and compare it with Johnson’s portrayal of Kerr in the scenes used for this trailer.
Johnson and Blunt’s Portrayal of Kerrs Also Believable
While it’s only a trailer for The Smashing Machine, not the full-length film that will be released this fall, from the little bit of the footage given in the teaser, one can already see that Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are convincing in their roles as husband and wife. The snippet of Mark and Dawn’s argument used in the trailer is countered wonderfully with a clip of the couple embracing toward the end of the teaser.
The fact that Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt previously worked together onscreen in Jungle Cruise was a big plus as far as casting for this motion picture was concerned. When you have performers with a history with each other working together for the second time, as Johnson and Blunt are here in The Smashing Machine, the actors are comfortable with one another.
Comfortability for the actors on the set leads to believability for the viewers watching in the seats at the cinemas. Quite simply, this is casting at its smartest.
The Smashing Machine With Brilliant Trailer
This trailer clocks in at two minutes and 30 seconds. Every second of footage used here was used perfectly.
However, as is often the case with movie trailers, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that some of the clips seen in this teaser will wind up not being used in the theatrical release of The Smashing Machine.
We’ll have to wait about five months to see how much from the trailer is left on the cutting room floor, or if any alternate takes of scenes are shown in the film itself. Will you see the movie when it comes out?
