Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan recently applauded Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic performance in his movie The Smashing Machine. The MMA movie dramatizes Mark Kerr’s life as an MMA fighter, showcasing his career highs and personal lows. The A24 film takes place between the late 90s to early 2000s, depicting his struggles with substance abuse and a turbulent relationship with his then-girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emilu Blunt).

At the DGA theater in Los Angeles, Nolan was part of a Q&A session, where he discussed The Smashing Machine with director Benny Safdie. While talking about the movie’s development and its stars, Johnson’s performance as Kerr became the focus, in which Nolan said the following: “It’s heartbreaking. I think it’s an incredible performance. I don’t think you’ll see a better performance this year.“

While Johnson is known for portraying action-heavy roles, such as Hobbs in the Fast & Furious franchise and Spencer Gilpin in the Jumanji franchise, his performance as Mark Kerr marks his most dramatic role yet. The wrestler-turned-actor earned lots of award buzz in the months leading up to the movie’s release, with trailers highlighting his incredible transformation as Kerr.

While the biopic has earned a worthy 71% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it hasn’t done well at the box office. The A24 movie debuted to just $5.9 million domestically, which marks the lowest opening weekend for any Johnson film. It was also well below projections, which were set at around $17–20 million. It has currently totaled just over $13 million in the last two and a half weeks since its release, despite having a reported $50 million budget.

Despite the poor box office for The Smashing Machine, that won’t slow down Johnson’s own pursuit of tackling more dramatic roles. The actor spoke about wanting to challenge himself, which meant pivoting away from his usual action performance.

Johnson is continuing to take those drastic measures. Just days before The Smashing Machine‘s release, the star had noticeably lost an incredible amount of weight. Despite some concerns online, the actor has since clarified that this diet was to prepare for his 70-year-old role, who befriended a chicken in Lizard Music. The film will reunite him with Safdie, who is set to direct.

Additionally, Johnson will reunite with Blunt in the upcoming Hawaiian-themed mob movie produced by Martin Scorsese. The untitled film is described as “Goodfellas-styled,” taking place in the 1960s and 1970s. The cast is also rounded out by Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Blunt recently hyped the upcoming movie, calling it “the last great American mob story” and shared that it’s a “terribly exciting role” for Johnson.

Release Date

October 3, 2025

Runtime

123 minutes

Director

Benny Safdie

Writers

Benny Safdie

Producers

Beau Flynn, David Koplan, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia