A24’s The Smashing Machine came into the weekend with strong reviews and even awards buzz for Dwayne The Rock Johnson’s portrayal of Mark Kerr, but unfortunately, that buzz didn’t translate to box office success, at least so far. The Smashing Machine has to this point made a bit over $6 million, and that’s a number not many expected to be the case. Now, The Rock has addressed the disappointing box office for the film, but he’s also revealed his biggest takeaway from the whole experience, and it’s a takeaway that is likely going to inform his career moving forward.
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On Instagram, Johnson wrote, “From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched ‘The Smashing Machine‘. In our storytelling world, you can’t control box office results — 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.”
The Rock Addresses The Future After Box Office Disappointment
The Rock highlights that he “will always run” towards the opportunity to “completely disappear” into a role, so while he certainly has a number of bigger blockbuster films on the horizon like Fast & Furious 11, Jumanji 3, and the live-action Moana, it seems like he also might be pursuing other roles that are more like his portrayal of Kerr. The Rock took several roles early in his career more along those lines, and now we could be seeing a return to that in the future.
There’s also good news for Johnson in the immediate future. While The Smashing Machine isn’t going to light up the box office, that doesn’t diminish any of his awards season momentum. Plenty of films had been duds at the box office and yet led to big award showings at the Oscars, and we could see the same happen for Johnson. Having your first Oscar win would be quite the achievement after all, and that would be a credit to the work done in The Smashing Machine.
ComicBook’s Kofi Outlaw reviewed The Smashing Machine and called it a return to form for Johnson, while also praising the work of director Benny Safdie. You can find an excerpt from the full review below.
“Like its subject, The Smashing Machine, is the film that seems to remind Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson of the joy that is found in the humility of taking on and disappearing into a “serious acting” role, like back in the earliest days of his career, when he still felt he had something to prove. For fans, it’s good to be reminded that underneath “The Rock’s” massive persona, Dwayne Johnson is a damn fine actor. For Benny Safdie, this is another showcase of his talent as a cinematic auteur.”
The Smashing Machine is in theaters now.
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