The Rock Gets Brutal in First Trailer for ‘The Smashing Machine’

The trailer for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s next big acting role just dropped, and it’s already turning heads. Johnson stars in The Smashing Machine, a raw, intense MMA drama from A24 that’s set to hit theaters on October 3.

Directed and written by Benny Safdie—best known for Uncut Gems—the film features Johnson as real-life MMA legend Mark Kerr, a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion whose dominant in-ring style earned him the nickname “The Smashing Machine.” The trailer gives a glimpse into the brutal world Kerr lived in, both inside the cage and outside of it.

The film is being produced by Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions, alongside Safdie’s Out for the Count banner, Eli Bush, and David Koplan. A24, the same studio behind The Iron Claw, is handling distribution.

For longtime MMA fans, this story hits familiar ground. Kerr’s life was the subject of the 2002 HBO documentary The Smashing Machine, which detailed not just his meteoric rise in the fight world, but also his personal demons—including his battle with painkiller addiction and a near-fatal overdose.

The Rock appears fully locked in for the role, shedding his usual action-hero polish to take on one of the more complex characters of his career. Based on the trailer, this isn’t about winning titles—it’s about surviving the fight outside the cage.