Dwayne Johnson Transforms Into Legendary MMA Fighter Mark Kerr For A24’s ‘The Smashing Machine’

Jake Kanter
·1 min read
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Dwayne Johnson is almost unrecognizable as MMA legend Mark Kerr in a first look at A24’s The Smashing Machine.

A24 posted the teaser for Benny Safdie’s feature on social media after Johnson flew into Cannes last week to meet with buyers about the UFC story.

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In the still, The Rock is shorn of his trademark tattoos and has been furnished with a thick head of hair as he sits in the corner of a ring.

In The Smashing Machine, Johnson plays Kerr, the legendary MMA fighter from the no-holds-barred era of UFC. The pic will follow Kerr’s struggle with addiction, winning, love, and friendship in the year 2000.

Emily Blunt co-stars and can be seen at the bottom right of the first-look image. She plays Dawn Staples, the wife of the MMA champ. While trying to set up a life together, she struggles to find her place within Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.

The movie, which A24 is producing and financing, puts them back in business with Safdie, who co-directed and co-wrote Uncut Gems ($50 million at the domestic box office). Safdie also wrote the script for The Smashing Machine.

Kerr is a former wrestler and mixed martial artist. During his MMA career he was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a Pride FC Heavyweight Champion, 1992 NCAA National Wrestling Champion, 1994 National Freestyle Champion and four-time ADCC World Submission Champion.

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