Dwayne Johnson is a soft-spoken Smashing Machine in new trailer

Dwayne Johnson stars as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, opening on October 3.

By Matt Schimkowitz | September 9, 2025 | 9:00am

Courtesy of A24

Film News The Smashing Machine

Dwayne Johnson is a soft-spoken Smashing Machine in new trailer

Benny Safdie’s solo directorial debut, The Smashing Machine, was a smash at the Venice Film Festival, particularly on the very large back of star Dwayne Johnson’s performance. Safdie took home the Silver Lion, the festival’s award for Best Directing, while Johnson, sporting a new trim frame, received the best reviews of his career and, the ultimate arbiter of festival approval, a lengthy standing ovation. But that Johnson couldn’t be more unrecognizable in the new trailer for Smashing Machine. It’s the least The Rock has looked like The Rock on screen since The Scorpion King.

Johnson plays real-life MMA champion and UFC fighter Mark Kerr. In the film, under heavy prosthetics and using a soft-spoken tone of voice to complain about his tummy troubles, Johnson transforms into a gentle giant who will, nevertheless, knee a man in the face until that man lies unconscious in a pool of his own blood. That lifestyle comes at a cost. As the trailer hints, Kerr’s struggles with pain medication put him in a fight against himself and his ex-wife Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt).