New Look at Dwayne Johnson & Emily Blunt in Venice-Bound ‘The Smashing Machine’

A24 has released a new look at The Smashing Machine, and the message is clear: Dwayne Johnson isn’t playing it safe. Ditching the polished action persona, Johnson morphs into real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr in this intense biographical drama, directed by Benny Safdie in his first solo feature.

Set in the early 2000s, the film follows Kerr’s rise as a dominant UFC champion and the personal unraveling that came with it. Addiction, pressure, and inner chaos take center stage, with Johnson nearly unrecognizable in prosthetics and an Ohio accent. His physical transformation has drawn buzz, but a new image reveals more: Johnson as Kerr walking through a market hand-in-hand with Emily Blunt’s Dawn Staples. He looks driven, almost distant; she gazes at him with quiet admiration. It’s a subtle but telling portrait of the film’s emotional core.

The movie will make its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival this fall. To mark the occasion, A24 unveiled this fresh still (below), giving fans a glimpse not just of the man in the ring, but of the strained relationship outside it.

“I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain,” Johnson told Variety. That ambition drives The Smashing Machine, which leans harder into emotional devastation than physical beatdowns.

Blunt co-stars in her second film with Johnson after Jungle Cruise, but the tone couldn’t be more different. There are no quips or escapades here, just two people clinging to each other as everything crumbles. Blunt reportedly introduced Johnson to Safdie after working with him on Oppenheimer, a collaboration that seems to have unlocked something darker and more daring.

The screenplay, written by Safdie and Kerr himself, is based in part on the 2002 HBO documentary that chronicled Kerr’s life and struggles. The trailer teases this descent, offering glimpses of raw fights, cold silences, and emotional breakdowns. “Winning is the best feeling there is. It’s 40,000 people, and they are cheering you on. There’s no other high like it in the world,” Kerr (Johnson) says in voiceover. But what goes up must crash down.

With supporting roles from Bas Rutten, Lyndsey Gavin, and Oleksandr Usyk, The Smashing Machine opens in theaters October 3, after its Venice debut. You can watch the trailer below.

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