Dwayne Johnson has addressed his new movie The Smashing Machine's disappointing box office debut in a social media post that praises the film and its director, Benny Safdie.
"From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched 'The Smashing Machine,'" Johnson wrote on Instagram. "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."
The Smashing Machine made $5.9 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend after hitting theaters on October 3, a career-worst for Johnson. The movie had a budget of $50 million. By contrast, his last big-screen outing, Disney's Moana 2, debuted to $139.8 million and went on to become the third-highest-grossing movie of 2024.
"It was my honor to transform in this role for my director Benny Safdie. Thank you, brother, for believing in me," Johnson continued. "Truth is this film has changed my life. With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy, dj."
In the movie, Johnson plays real-life wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, and he stars alongside Emily Blunt as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. The Smashing Machine is the solo directorial debut of Safdie, who's best known for helming movies like Uncut Gems with his brother Josh.
"This really was a sort of leap into the unknown, for he and I," Blunt recently told GamesRadar+. "We've been trying to find something to do together again since Jungle Cruise, and I was hoping it could be something that would be very different, but this was the polarized end of what we had done together before."
The Smashing Machine is out now in theaters. For more on what to watch, check out our guide to the rest of this year's best upcoming movies.
