EXCLUSIVE: Dwayne Johnson’s trip to the Cannes Film Festival in May to support A24’s sales launch of MMA fighting drama The Smashing Machine has paid off.
A24 has unveiled a raft of deals on the movie starring Johnson as legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr as the biopic wraps production in Japan this week, ahead of a U.S. release in 2025
The movie has sold to key partners in the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors), Canada, Australia & New Zealand (VVS), France (Zinc & Bac), Germany & Austria (Leonine) Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Latam, Spain & South Africa ( Sun), Scandinavia (Nordisk), Benelux (The Searchers), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), China (iQIYI) South Korea (The Coup), CIS (AMedia), CEE (Unicorn), Ukraine (Top Film), Middle East (Front Row), Israel (Lev), Baltics (Acme), Turkey (Filmarti) and Portugal (NOS Lusomundo Audiovisuais).
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The Smashing machine is written, directed and produced by Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time), under his Out for the Count banner, with A24 producing and financing.
The drama follows legendary fighter Kerr from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career, as he questions himself and struggles with life and relationships.
Emily Blunt co-stars as Kerr’s then girlfriend, later wife and ex-wife, Dawn Staples as she struggles to find her place in the champion fighter’s chaotic and contradictory world.
Producers alongside Safdie include Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia for Seven Bucks Productions, David Koplan and Eli Bush.
Johnson took time out from the shoot in May to travel to Cannes to discuss the movie with buyers.
Kerr is an American former wrestler and mixed martial artist. During his MMA career he was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion, 1992 NCAA National Wrestling Champion, 1994 National Freestyle Champion and 4x ADCC World Submission Champion.
The movie takes its title from the 2003 HBO documentary which detailed Kerr’s MMA career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC and PRIDE.