After spending years headlining Hollywood action films, Dwayne Johnson was eager to switch things up and pursue a new challenge as an actor. That led him to Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, a biopic of MMA pioneer Mark Kerr. While the role of an MMA fighter was definitely in the wheelhouse of the former pro wrestler, it was clear Johnson was looking to push himself by tackling a project that had the potential to be artistically and creatively satisfying. The Smashing Machine entered the fall as a possible awards contender, hoping the “Dwayne Johnson does drama” narrative would be enough to generate interest. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the film has bombed at the box office.
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According to Deadline, The Smashing Machine earned just $6 million domestically in its opening weekend, a far cry from the $20 million it was projected to make at one point. This means The Smashing Machine is the lowest opening of Johnson’s career. It is expected the film will come in third place this weekend, behind One Battle After Another ($11.1 million) and Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl ($33 million).
Why Did The Smashing Machine Bomb at the Box Office?
The Smashing Machine performing as poorly as it did is somewhat surprising. Johnson’s movies have rarely been critical darlings, but he’s proven to be a reliable box office draw throughout his career. His films to date have combined to earn more than $15 billion at the worldwide box office. Several franchise installments are included in that filmography, but audiences have shown they’ll come out in full force to see Johnson on the big screen before. With The Smashing Machine earning Johnson some of the best reviews of his career, the thought process was his star power and awards buzz would turn the biopic into a winner — even though it’s a very different kind of film than San Andreas or Rampage.
That obviously didn’t happen, and, surprisingly, word of mouth could be to blame. The Smashing Machine has a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and won Best Director at the Venice Film Festival, but overall reception hasn’t been as enthusiastic when compared to other potential awards contenders. The reviews, while good, are not on the level of something like One Battle After Another; The Smashing Machine didn’t have must-see buzz from critics heading into its debut. Furthermore, it has just a B- CinemaScore, indicating general audiences didn’t love what they saw. Based on the response, it’s unlikely The Smashing Machine will be able to rebound with decent legs.
The Smashing Machine wasn’t facing much in the way of direct competition for its target audience, but it still had to deal with some notable releases. One Battle After Another has been hailed as one of the year’s best films and is seen as a frontrunner in the awards race so far. Any cinephiles looking to catch up on Oscar contenders this weekend were likely going to opt for that one. The surprise release of The Official Release Party of a Showgirl (which wasn’t added to the schedule until mid-September) overshadowed the rest of the box office this weekend and took away screens/showtimes that could have gone to other films, though it was obviously going after a very different demographic than The Smashing Machine. Showgirl likely had some impact, but just how much is debatable.
This was hardly the result Johnson was looking for in his highly-touted foray into serious acting. It will be interesting to see how this impacts his career decisions moving forward. His next film, a live-action remake of Moana, seems like a safe box office bet. Beyond that, he seems interested in working with respected auteurs, supposedly partnering with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio on a Hawaii mob drama. Johnson’s action schtick seemed to be wearing thin with viewers (Black Adam, Red One), so this shift to drama made sense. Hopefully the next project fares better and serves as a true revitalization of his career.
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