‘The Smashing Machine’: Dwayne Johnson to Lead Benny Safdie’s A24 MMA Biopic!!

Dwayne Johnson is returning to his combat sports roots with a role in Benny Safdie‘s The Smashing Machine. Johnson will play mixed-martial arts legend Mark Kerr in the upcoming A24 biopic. Deadline reports that Johnson will star as Kerr in the upcoming film, which Johnson and Safdie have been working on since Johnson‘s production company, Seven Bucks Productions, acquired the rights in 2019.

The film will be an adaptation of the acclaimed 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr, which was directed by John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Sick), and chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of Kerr’s life in the wild-west days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It will be a reunion of sorts for Safdie and A24; the distributor released 2019’s Uncut Gems, which was written and directed by Safdie and his brother, Josh Safdie. It was one of A24‘s signature hits; in addition to critical acclaim for the film and its star Adam Sandler, it earned $50 million USD on a $19 million budget.

Who is Mark Kerr?

Born in 1968 in Toledo, Ohio, Mark Kerr was a well-regarded collegiate wrestler, competing against future WWE star and actor Kurt Angle (Warrior). In the 1990s, he turned his attention to the then-nascent sport of mixed martial arts, which was just beginning to grow in popularity. An intimidating figure at 6’3″ and 255 pounds, Kerr was known as “The Smashing Machine” for his power and relentlessness; his fights frequently ended quickly due to his use of moves that had yet to be banned in MMA, including head-butts and knees to the head. Kerr soon became one of the top stars in the UFC and, later, in rival federation Pride, but the sport took a toll on his body, and he became addicted to painkillers. The Smashing Machine, which chronicles the twilight of Kerr’s career, depicts his struggle with addiction and the toll it takes on his interpersonal relationships; however, Kerr was eventually able to overcome his dependency, and remains sober to this day.

Safdie will direct and write The Smashing Machine; it will be his first solo feature, although he has made a plethora of acting appearances since breaking into the mainstream with Uncut Gems. Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions will produce the film with Safdie’s Out for the Count production company, as will Eli Bush and David Koplan.