The Smashing Machine (2025): True Story, Cast, and Why It Flopped

Release Year: 2025 · Studio: A24 (Wikipedia (film entry)) · Director: Benny Safdie (Harper’s Bazaar (film coverage)) · Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt (Men’s Health (entertainment desk)) · Based on True Story: Yes (USA Today (reporting))

Eight data points, one pattern: the film’s production basics are solid, while the reception numbers are softer than the pedigree would suggest.

Is The Smashing Machine a true story?

The short answer is yes, with the usual biopic compression. The film starts with a real person and a real timeline, then fills in the emotional gaps.

Who was Mark Kerr?

• Mark Kerr was a former UFC heavyweight champion whose story anchors the film (Harper’s Bazaar (film coverage)).
• His career peak came in the late 1990s with PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan (Sporting News (MMA coverage)).
• The film tracks his rise and fall between 1997 and 2000 (Yahoo Entertainment/EW (fact-check)).

How historically accurate is the film?

• Kerr told Yahoo Entertainment/EW that the movie is “about as close as it can possibly get to the true story” (Yahoo Entertainment/EW).
• Benny Safdie has said he aimed for a truthful representation but also changed some things, including placing people in scenes where they were not in real life (USA Today).
• The film portrays Kerr’s opioid addiction and his relationship with Dawn Staples (Men’s Health).

The implication: The Smashing Machine is true in its bones, but viewers who expect a documentary should treat it as a dramatized memory of Kerr’s career rather than an exact transcript.

Why was the Smashing Machine a flop?

Calling it a flop is easier than explaining it. The numbers point to a commercial stumble, while the reviews point to a film people respected more than loved.

What did critics say?

• Metacritic’s average score sits at 65, labeled “generally favorable” across 56 critic reviews, with its summary noting criticism that the film was “a predictable flop for A24” (Metacritic (review aggregator)).

How did audiences react on Reddit?

• Reddit users were early and blunt: one top review called the movie “a collection of scenes with no plot.”
• That complaint lines up with the broader critical note that the storytelling did not match the performances.

The box-office math is blunt: the film made about $5.8 million in its first weekend — the lowest opening weekend of Johnson’s career — and roughly $21.1 million worldwide against a reported $50 million budget, with audience polling landing at a B- CinemaScore, according to Wikipedia (film entry).

The trade-off: The Smashing Machine traded spectacle for seriousness, and the box office never caught up to the ambition.

What is the Rotten Tomatoes rating for The Smashing Machine?

The honest answer: a critics’ consensus is available, but a clean Tomatometer number is not confirmed in the sources cited here.

Is the rating available yet?

• Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus, as noted in the film’s Wikipedia entry, describes Johnson’s performance as “transformative” and the movie as “gritty but narratively unsatisfying” (Wikipedia (film entry)).
• For a numerical benchmark, Metacritic is the usable one: 65 out of 100 from 56 critic reviews (Metacritic (review aggregator)).
• A tomatometer percentage was not included in the research sources used for this article.

How does it compare to other Dwayne Johnson films?

• Comparing Tomatometer scores with other Johnson films is not possible from these sources because The Smashing Machine’s score is not among them.
• The available contrast is between critical tone and commercial performance: a “generally favorable” Metacritic label alongside a $5.8 million opening weekend.

What this means: critics liked the film more than the consensus headline suggests, but the missing Rotten Tomatoes number leaves the film hard to slot into the broader Johnson canon.

Who directed The Smashing Machine?

Benny Safdie wears the double hat of director and writer here, and his name explains much of the film’s serious tone.

What is Benny Safdie known for?

• Safdie is known for earlier films such as Uncut Gems and Good Time, which share a similarly tense, character-first style (Harper’s Bazaar (film coverage)).

How did Safdie approach the story?

• Safdie said he wanted a truthful representation, then admitted to changing some details, including placing real people in scenes where they were not (USA Today).
• The narrative focuses on Kerr’s rise and fall from 1997 to 2000, which gives the film a tight, almost tragic structure (Yahoo Entertainment/EW (fact-check)).

Why this matters: Safdie is not a hired-gun director. He builds movies around fractured characters, and Kerr’s story gives him a real-life version of that obsession.

Where to watch The Smashing Machine?

The clearest answer is theaters, because A24’s release is the only confirmed major window in the sources used here.

Is it in theaters?

• Yes, A24 released the film theatrically, and U.S. audiences saw it in 2025.
• International distribution details were not itemized in the sources cited for this article.

Will it stream on A24’s platform?

• No streaming date has been confirmed in the sources cited here.
• A24 has historically moved theatrical titles to its own streaming channel, so a later streaming window is likely but unconfirmed.

The pattern: theatrical is the proven first step, but the streaming decision will determine how this film is remembered.

Quotes and reactions

“The movie is about as close as it can possibly get to the true story.”

— Mark Kerr, via Yahoo Entertainment/EW (fact-check)

“A collection of scenes with no plot.”

— Reddit user review, r/moviecritic

“…a gritty but narratively unsatisfying film.”

— Rotten Tomatoes consensus, via Wikipedia

The takeaway

The Smashing Machine is a true-story biopic with a strong lead performance, a serious director, and a box-office story that now overshadows both. For A24, the distribution decision is the real test: move the film to streaming soon, or let a solid biopic be remembered as a theatrical misfire.

Frequently asked questions