Dwayne Johnson Looks Unrecognizable in the New Look at ‘The Smashing Machine’

Dwayne Johnson looks nearly unrecognizable in the first look for his upcoming film The Smashing Machine, according to Vanity Fair. The movie is a biographical sports drama written, directed, co-produced, and edited by Benny Safdie.

Johnson stars as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, with Emily Blunt playing Kerr’s then-wife Dawn Staples. The film also features Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten, and Oleksandr Usyk in supporting roles.

The Smashing Machine is set to have its world premiere in competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2025, where it is nominated for the Golden Lion. It will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2025, before its U.S. release by A24 on October 3, 2025. The first trailer for the film was released on April 29, 2025.

Johnson told Vanity Fair that he was drawn to the project because it offered a chance to play something raw and gritty. “I was so hungry for an opportunity to do something raw and gritty and rip myself open. And all of a sudden, Smashing Machine comes along,” he said.

The project has been in development for several years. Johnson first saw the 2002 HBO documentary The Smashing Machine, which focused on Mark Kerr and his struggles with painkiller addiction.

Johnson later met Kerr, and the stories of his career and personal struggles resonated with him. “I lost a lot of my friends to addiction and to suicide—in the late ’90s, early-to-mid 2000s, there were a lot of untimely, very early deaths,” Johnson said. He connected with Kerr’s story of overcoming obstacles and found parallels in his personality: a gentle giant known for his brutality in the ring.

Johnson reached out to Benny Safdie after seeing Uncut Gems in 2019, hoping to collaborate on a film about Kerr.

The pandemic delayed the project, but both Johnson and Safdie never let the idea go. Benny Safdie told Vanity Fair, “Dwayne felt so deeply about it, it was something I couldn’t shake.” After working on separate projects, Safdie found his way back to the film with encouragement from Johnson’s close friend, Emily Blunt.

The cast also includes Lyndsey Gavin as Elizabeth Coleman, Satoshi Ishii as Enson Inoue, James Moontasri as Akira Shoji, Yoko Hamamura as Kazuyuki Fujita, Stephen Quadros as himself, Paul Cheng as Masaaki Satake, Cyborg Abreu as Fábio Gurgel, Andre Tricoteux as Paul Varelans, Marcus Aurélio as Mestre Hulk, Whitney Moore as Jacqueline, Paul Lazenby as Hans Nijman, Olga Dzyurak as Vovchanchyn’s Translator, Eric Odbaatar as Pride FC Cornerman, and Zoe Kosovic as McKenzie Coleman.

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