Dwayne Johnson To Star In And Produce Movie About UFC Champ Mark Kerr

Patrick Hipes

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Dwayne Johnson is stepping into the octagon, coming aboard to produce and star in Smashing Machine, a dramatic movie about the life of two-time UFC champion Mark Kerr.

Johnson, himself a former pro wrestler, made the announcement at Madison Square Garden on Friday during the weigh-in for this weekend’s UFC 244 card, on which Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz is the main event.

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The pic, which is in the early stages of development with no studio attached, will be produced by Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions and Seven Bucks’ Hiram Garcia. Their longtime collaborator Beau Flynn is producing on behalf of Flynn Picture Co.

Kerr was a two-time UFC champion who started in the earlier days in the mixed martial arts game, fighting for the World Vale Tudo Championship and in the late 1990s in the PRIDE Fighting Championships. A 2003 HBO documentary The Smashing Machine detailed Kerr’s career which included an addition to painkillers.

Seven Bucks secured Kerr’s life rights for the project.

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