“Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, Starring DWAYNE JOHNSON As Legendary Mixed Martial Arts and UFC Fighter Mark Kerr, Delivered A Knockout Punch Modech. The A24 Film Had ITS World Premiere Monday Night Inside Sala Grande and the Audence Went Wild, Responding with A 15-Minute Standing Oination. IT PROVED TO BE”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
The A24 Film Had ITS World Premiere Monday Night Inside Sala Grande and the Audence Went Wild, Responding with A 15-Minute Standing Oination. IT PROVED TO A SPECIAL NIGHT for Johnson As Kerr ALSO MADE The TREK TO VENICE FOR THE SHOWING WHERE WHE WEER JOINED BY CO-STAR EMILY BLUNT. Amid cheers of “dj,” “Benny” and “emily,” the Audience Wild as All Four-Johnson, Blunt, Safdie and Kerr-Were All Teary-Eyed Terughout the Emocial Scene. Even Seth Rogen, A Surprise Guest, Was Cheering and Hollering While Holding a Camera Througout the Option and Snaping Photos The Entire Time.
A24’s The Smashing Machine Starring DWAYNE JOHNSON as UFC Champ Mark Kerr Deliveers TKO at Venice Film Festival World Premiere with 15-minute Standing Oination. The Rock in Tears by the End As Was Co-Star Emily Blunt, Director Benny Safdie and Kerr Who Was in Atendance. pic.twitter.com/k5lcqixqxqxa
– The Hollywood Reporter (@thr) September 1, 2025
Safdie Tracks Kerr’s Tradery from the Heights of Fame to Rock Bottom and Back Again. Kerr Made a Name for HimSelf Dominating Opents of the Octagonal Ring – His Work Helped Usher in A NEW EWTSE as He Became of the MOST POWERFUL FIESTHERT The SEAS It with A Dependence On Painkillers That Nearly Took Him Out. Blunt Stars As The Love of Kerr’s Life, Dawn Staples-Berr, In What Marks A Reteaming of the Actors After Their More Family Friendly Film, The Jungle Cruisefrom Disney.
The Smashing Machine’s Ensemble Features A Roster of First-Time Actors, Including Mixed Martial Artist Ryan Bader, Who Plays Kerr’s Rival-Turbned-Mark Coleman, and a Slew of Modern Satoshi Ishii, James Montasril, Paul Cheng, Cyborg Abru, Andre Tricoteux and Marcus Aurélio.
The World Premiere Delivered A Big Moment for Johnson, One of Hollywood’s MOST SUCCESSFUL MOVIE STARS ARTHOUSE DRAMA. It’s Also A Step in A New Direction for Safdie, As It Marks His First Solo Directorial Effort After Making Movies with His Brother, Josh Safdie.
Safdie Directed The smashing machine from a script he wrote. HE CREDITED JOHNSON WITH BRINGING HIM The IDEA FOR The FILM, A PROJECT THAT GAINED TRACTION ON The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark KerrA 2002 Documentary. Safdie Produced with Johnson, Eli Bush, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia and David Koplan with Executive Producer Tracey Landon.
“He Approached Me in, I Think, 2019, to Possibly Do this MOVIE. I WATCHED THE DOCUMENTARY About Mark and Instantly Fell In Love With Him, Because and Couldn’Tn ‘Tht. I FELT LIKE I Understood, ”Safdie Said in the Film’s Press Notes. There was something complicated about Mark that i wanted to explore. And there washoting about dwayne, too. He have this Image of HimSelf Out in the Public, But As HE SPOKE to ME ABOUT MARK, AND AS HE TALKED About this Movie, Oh My God! I Realized There Was A Whole Other Side to Him That We Could Explore Together. {
The smashing machine IS SET FOR RELEASE FROM A24 ON OCT. 3. The Venice Film Festival Runs Aug. 27-Sept. 6.