He may go by Dwayne Johnson nowadays, but to some of us he’ll always be The Rock. He was the first wrestler to transition into a successful film career (sorry, Hulk Hogan), paving the way for the always welcome John Cena. When Johnson started doing movies full-time, he not only dropped his nom de plume, but he also wouldn’t do movies where he did some wrasslin’. (The exception: playing himself in 2019’s Fighting with my Family.) But now, at long last, he’s doing a movie where he kicks some butt in the ring, albeit for a different sport.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson has signed on to star in The Smashing Machine, which concerns real-life MMA star Mark Kerr. What’s up with that title? For one thing it’s Kerr’s nickname, due to his “no holds barred” style of fighting. It’s also the title of a 2003 HBO documentary that chronicled his storied career, which spanned from the late ‘90s through the late aughts, as well as his addiction to pain killers.
So that’s cool, but also cool is who will make it: Benny Safdie, aka one-half of the Safdie brothers, aka one-half of the team that made Good Time, Uncut Gems, as well as excellent movies like Heaven Knows What and The Pleasure of Being Robbed. Benny’s been off on his own lately, away from his brother Joshua, mostly to do acting. He made a very good Edward Teller in Oppenheimer, to say nothing of his work on The Rehearsal opposite Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone. This will be his first solo directorial effort, so we’ll see what a Safdie brothers movie is like when it’s only one bro.
(Via THR)
