Dwayne Johnson’s dramatic turn as UFC champ Mark Kerr in the Benny Safdie-directed biopic The Smashing Machine got off to a rough start at the domestic box office, but the former WWE star isn’t letting that get in the way of the pride he feels in the movie.
The A24 film opened to $5.9 million at the domestic box office, which is a slow start for a major awards season contender produced on a $50 million budget and starring two major names. In a post on Instagram, Johnson admitted that he cannot control box office results but he’s very proud of what he and director-writer Benny Safdie accomplished with The Smashing Machine, which also stars Emily Blunt.
“From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched The Smashing Machine,” Johnson wrote. “In our storytelling world, you can’t control box office results—but what I realized you can control is your performance, and your commitment to completely disappear and go elsewhere. And I will always run to that opportunity. It was my honor to transform in this role for my director Benny Safdie. Thank you brother for believing in me. Truth is this film has changed my life. With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy, dj.”
The Smashing Machine opened in 3,345 venues across the United States, and grossed $5.9 million during its opening weekend. It landed at No. 3 in the domestic box office, behind Taylor Swift’s The Official Release Party of a Showgirl and Paul Thomas Anderson’s critical darling, One Battle After Another. The movie was projected to open to between $8 million to $15 million, but when your competition is Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio, it makes sense that it unfortunately fell short of its goals. It marks a domestic box office low for Johnson, grossing less than his 2010 thriller Faster—which opened to $8.5 million unadjusted for inflation—but more than the 2007 black comedy Southland Tales, which grossed only $275,380 during its limited release.
While it’s not a strong start for The Smashing Machine, it’s likely that it’ll get a big boost come awards season, with the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards potentially giving the film some nods. If the nominations do indeed come rolling in, the movie will likely return to theaters across the country. The Smashing Machine has already garnered heaps of critical acclaim, particularly for Johnson in one of his most grounded performances to date.