Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Simon is a Los Angeles-based journalist who covers film and TV. Although biographical sports drama The Smashing Machine is based on the true story of MMA fighter Mark Kerr, there was ...

The Academy Award nominations last week revealed that Dwayne Johnson would not be receiving his much-touted nod for starring in A24's The Smashing Machine. Although Johnson wasn't a favorite to find a place among the final five, a nomination for a Golden ...

Becoming the Smashing Machine required disguising the Rock. "It was all-consuming," Dwayne Johnson, star of the biopic about MMA fighter Mark Kerr, tells Entertainment Weekly of how big the challenge was not to be seen as his WWE persona on the big screen.

The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson as legendary mixed martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr, is coming soon to HBO Max. The Smashing Machine also stars Emily Blunt as Kerr’s girlfriend, Dawn Staples and MMA star Ryan Bader as ...

Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” isn’t what you think it is, especially if you think it’s a movie about a British guy who thinks his typewriter is the tops. “The Smashing Machine” would seem to bear all the hallmarks of something ...

The Smashing Machine (now streaming on HBO Max, in addition to VOD platforms like Amazon Prime Video) sure seemed engineered to generate Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson some Oscar buzz — but that buzz never materialized into a 2026 Oscar nomination.

Chris Gore and Alan Ng review "The Smashing Machine", now in theaters. Have a drink with us for Hollywood On the Rocks, Wednesdays at 1PM PT, then catch us on our Friday Livecast at 9AM PT for film reviews,