There was a time when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could do no wrong in Hollywood. The former WWE Superstar had established himself as one of the world's biggest box office draws, but like many action stars before him, his star has faded in recent years.
Now, as he looks to establish himself as a "serious" actor, Johnson has taken on a transformative role as UFC fighter Mark Kerr in A24's The Smashing Machine.
He was left in tears after receiving a lengthy standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival last month, but reviews have been good, not great (it has a solid 73% on Rotten Tomatoes). That may put a damper on his hopes for major awards success next year, and most pundits seem to agree that he was trying a little too hard to garner awards attention with this role.
Not helping matters is the fact that The Smashing Machine opened in theaters this past weekend, making a mere $5.9 million at the North American box office.
That's the lowest opening of The Rock's career, and a surprise when initial projections pointed to a $20 million opening. According to Deadline, the movie is expected to lose around $10 million - $15 million when all is said and done, making the $50 million biopic a box office flop.
Interestingly, it's said that Johnson received only $4 million for his work in The Smashing Machine, a far cry from his usual $20+ million paydays. However, he's said to have given "a portion" of that to co-star Emily Blunt and Kerr, the subject of this story.
Did Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl derail The Smashing Machine? Box office pundits are divided on that, with Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, telling Variety, "There’s not a significant audience crossover between Taylor Swift’s fanbase and a male-driven sports drama. Maybe a small degree of premium-large-format screens weren’t available, but I don’t think it’s related to ‘The Smashing Machine’s’ underperformance."
So, what did derail The Smashing Machine? It appears audiences simply weren't that interested in seeing The Rock's portrayal of the iconic UFC fighter. Likely not helping matters is the fact that Kerr isn't a household name, meaning this movie may have only appealed to those with a pre-existing knowledge of his time in the Octagon.
As for Johnson, much of the goodwill he had with moviegoers and wrestling fans has vanished after he attempted to take over the DCEU with Black Adam and returned to WWE last year with the intention of stealing Cody Rhodes' spotlight.
Taking to social media, The Rock 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."
You can read Johnson's comments in full below.