Dwayne Johnson did his best to hype up the release of The Smashing Machine which promised a very different side of the Hollywood star – including an incredible makeup transformation. However, the movie debuted to a career-low gross of $5.9 million during its first weekend. Now Dwayne Johnson has issued a statement as The Smashing Machine flops at the box office.
At the time of this writing, the film has only earned $6.1 million so far, with a much larger $50 million budget weighing in the balance. Nevertheless, Johnson’s statement comes from an optimistic and grateful point-of-view, one in which he thanks everyone who has seen The Smashing Machine so far.
Here’s what Dwayne Johnson shared regarding The Smashing Machine and its underwhelming release via Instagram:
“From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched The Smashing Machine. 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. It was my honor to transform in this role for my director Benny Safdie @bowedtie. Thank you brother for believing in me.”
Johnson further emphasized the importance that The Smashing Machine offers himself:
“Truth is this film has changed my life.
“With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy,
dj”
View this post on Instagram
It’s an impactful statement that at the time of this writing, has more than 478,000 likes. At the very least, The Smashing Machine has been well-received critically, and fans seem to love it. The biggest drawback is that a biographical sports drama about Mark Kerr was simply not the blockbuster that Johnson and A24 hoped it would be. Fortunately, now that it exists, it can eventually find an audience.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Dwayne Johnson’s career and the ongoing performance of The Smashing Machine. As for now, those interested can see The Smashing Machine in theaters.