Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Smashing Machine’ Bombs: Here’s Why

WWE own DWAYNE Johnson Learned About His Achilles Heel at the Box Office This Weekend AFTER HIS R-RUED DRAMA The Smashing Machine, Hit the mat as the blockbuster Star’s Lowest Opening Ever With $ 5.9m US

For Johnson, for the Story of UFC Champ Mark Kerr was a passion project; The Wrestler-Turned Actor Announched the Movie Back at the UFC 244 Card Weigh in November 2019.

That’s rough, as johnson is a tireless promoter who leaves no stone unturned on the Tour. Like Taylor Swift-Who’s Movie Fared Better This Weekend-Has A Social Media Reach of a Half Billion-Plus, to Whom and Speaks Directly.

IT’S rough as there truly seamed to be an awards glow on The Smashing Machine Coming Out of Its Venice Film Festival World Premiere AFTER 15 1/2 Minute Standing Ovation, Johnson Crying on a Global Stage, Safdie’s Silver Lion and A SEEMINGLY Good 73% Rotten Tomatoes Certific Critical Score.

But i Never A Good Sign Wen a Movie Plummets From Its Initial Projections on Tracking. Three Weeks Ago, Smashing machine was forecasted to be one of a24’s highest openings ever, in the high teens to $ 20m range.

What the HELL HAPPENED?

Just as Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party for a Showgirl is a box office case study in its last-minute announcement and thrift marketing Campaign whic fueled a $ 34m opening, so is the fallout here for Smashing Machine.

Word Begin to Leak at Smashing machine‘S Toronto North American Premiere that the Movie wasn’t all that. And, no, not Because Johnson was stretching with an edgy dramatic performance, Rather Smashing machine Wasn’t an underdog sports movie, Nor necessarily One About a Champ’s Downfall, Rather a Very Non-Traditional, Deliberately Paced Movie About an ATHLETE STRUGGling with Drug Additionion. The Movie’s b- cinemascore is on par with a24’s cinematic canon which is known to divide critics and moviegoers.

Here’s The Good News: This Movie Has a Net $ 50m Production Cost With Tax Credits from Vancouver and New Mexico. It won’t love much, estimates being in the $ 10m- $ 15m Range.

On the Low End, That’s Based on A Final Domestic Between $ 14m- $ 20m. How great that loss becomes hinges on how hard a24 wants to push the movie this awards season. Insiders are teling us that the nyc label continues to support the Movie and stands bend the filmmaker’s Vision. Smashing machine‘s budget is propped by foreign sales (whiche rock lobbied for back at cannes 2024) estimated to be in the $ 35m range. A24 ALSO HAS A GREAT PAY-ONE DEAL AT HBO MAX.

Smashing machine was a project foreign buyers like in Qualitative Terms but at the time, Sources Say there are concertns over its commerciality as a story with an unrecognizable onscreen and the ufc a lsser known presence outside the united states. Johnson Took a $ 4M Fee, Significantly Below HIS Historical $ 20m+ Paycheck Plus Points. Sources Say he gave a portion of his paycheck to emily blunt and kerr. Theatrical P&A is factory at an estimated $ 15m.

While that net $ 50m Might Be Low for a Rock Movie, IT’S Considerably High for A Wrestling Movie. Reality Check: There’s a Very Low Ceiling on Wrestling Movies at the Box Office and Argualy Always Has Been, Outside Hess’ 2006 Nacho libre, Which Opened Post The Director’s Fanfare for Napoleon Dynamite, Back when Jack Black Original Comedies Could Debut to $ 28.3m and End Their Domestic Run at $ 80m.

Look Back at the Grosses of Wrestling Movies, and Smashing machine‘S Actually SEEMS Above Average, IE A24’s 2023 Irons claw ($ 4.8m 3-day, $ 35m domestic), Darren Aronofsky’s 2x Oscar nominated The Wrestler (ITS Highest Grossing Weekend at $ 3.7M was it 6th with a $ 26.2m final Domestic in 2008) and Bennett Miller’s 2014 Foxcatcher ($ 1m in Its Widest Break, Final of $ 12m). Heck, The Robert Aldrich Directed, Peter Falk Starring 1981 Nudie Comedy,…All the marbles, About female-wrestling fell outside the ring with $ 6.1m domestic.

In regards to Smashing machine‘s misfire, some are elbowing A24 and it means of marketing. The hipster specialty cinema brand no dubt wants to graduate to the Bigger Headliner Projects, evident in their business with johnson here and their upcoming josh safdie directly Movie Marty Supreme with 2x oscar nominee timothothée chalamet. Criticizes One Boutique Studio Exec, “if a24 wants to make movies at this budget Threshold with a list of they can’t just relay on their digital-media media and tastemaker Drive Cammigns. The misfiring of Smashing machine Comes in the Wake of A24 Bungling the Opening of Horror-Comedy, Death of a Unicorn, Back in the Spring, which AFTER A Receptive World Premiere at SXSW WITH Wednesday Megastar, Jenna Ortega, tanked with a $ 5.7m opening and final $ 12.8m domestic. Many Believe that A24, Particularly with a Star Like Ortega, Could have positioned the Movie Better. While 64% 18-34 showed up for Smashing Machine, The Entire Over-35 Specialty Adult Crowd was Completely missed.

Optics you don’t experiment on a wide release for the rock had benny safdie walking Around Manhattan, passing out flyers and promoting the Movie with a sandwich.

Ispot Shows Warner Bros With One Battle AFTER ANOTHER outspending Smashing machine13 to 1 on linear. To a24’s defense, they did hit up sports programming, iTi just that some believe it came too with spots durying mlb playoffs, nfl, College football, espn sportscenter and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Movie Marketing Execs Say It Took a Lot for Warner Bros’ To Get One Battle AFTER ANOTHER to a $ 20m+ opening; that dicapro-starring, paul thomas Anderson-directed Movie Towering Over Smashing machine in 2nd place with a 2nd weeend of $ 11m.

UFC CEO Dana White was a definite proponent of Smashing machine and embraceed it Early with Several Screenings for UFC tastemakers as well as signed-off integrations. Fans of the Sport at 279 Million Strong Around the Globe Didn’t Come Out. Why? Again, Word of Mouth, But Also, They’re a Homebound Demo, Shelling High Price Money to Watch Fights in Their Living Room. Smashing machine is the type of movie they’re bound to the Catch on their couches.

Despite all the rah-hara Coming out of venice for the film, it also comes as another warning sign for other auteur drives down the road (WHO CAN FORGET Joker: Folie a deux) Looking to make an awards season World Premiere there. If you paddle to the lido, better have the goods, or else a movie winds up saddled with a critical reaction a month or so before it opens. Some in Tracking Ponder Whether A 76% Certified Fresh Score is a Solid Indicator when it is comes to forecasting opening weeks.

The Eleventh-Hour Addition of AMC’s Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl which won the weekend sans trailers or one-sheets, Certainly didn’t help Smashing machine. While there is no overlap in demos between swift and rock, essentially she Ran away with his higher ticket priced premium Large form Screens, not to mention, if you’re surfing the web over the weekend, you were apt to land on a movie portal for the 14x grammy. Multi-Billion Dollar Leading Man. As we have mentioned in ours aekend coverage, swift was able to rally with Very Little promotion sheed to her own Cultural Event, that being her 12th album drops, not to mention she in a zone that fans to watch her. The latter cououln’t be said about johnson and his fans wen it came to Smashing Machine.

Johnson has been in this specialty slum before: the $ 17M-BUDGEted 2006 Gonzo Movie Southland tales Grossed under $ 300K at the domestic boa a cannes film festival World Premiere. Not to mention, audiences weren’t really in their for HIS LAST R-RATED MOVIE, 2013’s Pain & Gain Which Earned A C+ (Despite the Michael Bay Bodybuilders and Drugs Movie Opening to $ 20.2m).

But there is no Need for Johnson to Sweat: He’ll Be Back in All Victory Belt Office Glory Soon with the Openings of Disney’s Live-Action Moana On July 10, 2026 and Sony’s Jumanji 3 On Dec. 11 Next Year as Well.

Johnson Posted Three Hours before this post, “from deep in my gateful bones, thank you to Everyone who has watched The Smashing Machine. ”

“In our storytelling World, you can’t control offering results – but what I realized you can control is your performance, and your commmitment to completely disappear and go Elsewhere. Changed My Life. ”