Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s new movie, The Smashing Machine, scored the worst box office debut of his career. Still, the wrestler-turned-actor says it was an “honor” to work on the film.
The biopic about two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Kerr opened in a disappointing third place over the weekend, after earning just $5.5 million from 3,345 theaters, box office tracking company Comscore reported.
In comparison, Taylor Swift/The Official Release Party of a Showgirl debuted in first place with $34 million. The Leonardo DiCaprio-led thriller One Battle After Another was second with $11 million in its second weekend of release.
As the tickets were tallied, movie writers sharpened their pencils, with some writing think pieces on why The Smashing Machine got knocked out.
Related: Dwayne Johnson Gets Rave Reviews for Dramatic Turn in ‘The Smashing Machine’
The Rock released a statement Monday in response, saying you can’t win them all, especially when you try something different.
“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,” he shared on Instagram.
The action star added, “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.”
Safdie, of the famous Safdie brothers filmmaking team, wrote, directed, edited and co-produced the independent A24 release.
Box office analysts had expected the film to open in the $15 million range, after it
received positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a 15-minute standing ovation last month at the Venice Film Festival.
Instead, the film earned less than $6 million.
With a reported production budget of $50 million, plus more for marketing, the drama is expected to lose millions.
So, what went wrong?
Kathia Woods, a film critic with the Philadelphia Tribune, blamed the storytelling.
“Mark Kerr’s story deserved more depth, as did Johnson’s character,” Woods wrote in her review.
Asked by phone Monday for specifics on why the film flopped, Woods questioned why the movie cost so much to make and criticized the writing.
“The script doesn’t help you connect to Mark. It asks you to take and just assume things,” Woods told Urban Hollywood 411.
She added that the movie glossed over key issues in Kerr’s life.
“The issue with the movie is, it is a worthwhile story to speak about a man who revolutionized mixed martial arts, but the film does a poor job of telling you why his story is important.”
She noted that the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr — which inspired the new film — is a much better watch.
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