Dwayne Johnson takes a dramatic turn from his blockbuster persona to portray real-life UFC fighter Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine,” which has its world premiere Monday at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by Benny Safdie, the film has already generated significant Oscar buzz for Johnson’s transformative performance, even before its first official reviews. The festival has a strong track record of launching Best Actor campaigns, having recently premiered winning films for Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) and Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), both of which were also released by A24.
Venice’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, is among the film’s early champions, calling Johnson “absolutely amazing” and predicting that both he and co-star Emily Blunt, who plays Kerr’s wife, could be among next year’s Oscar nominees. Barbera initially thought the film would be a good out-of-competition contender but, after seeing it, realized it was “a great movie.” The film delves into the life of Kerr, a two-time UFC heavyweight champion nicknamed “The Smashing Machine,” who struggled with severe addiction to painkillers and opioids, overdosing twice before retiring in 2009.
The role is a full-circle moment for Johnson, who was best known globally for franchises like “Jumanji” and “Fast & Furious” but first made his name as a third-generation WWE champion. For director Benny Safdie, known for co-directing “Uncut Gems” and recently acting in “Oppenheimer,” the project was a deep character study. In his director’s statement, Safdie said the goal was to empathize with Kerr and his wife, Dawn Staples, and he wanted the movie “to exist as a memory for everyone who watches it.”
“The Smashing Machine” is playing in the festival’s main competition, vying for top prizes against titles like “Frankenstein” and “Bugonia.” The winners will be announced on September 6. Following its festival run, the film is set to open in North American theaters on October 3, where audiences will see a completely different side of the actor famously known as “The Rock.”
