“This transformation was something that really was hungry to make”

The moment is here: the rock has reached lido.

In a 2025 Venice Film Festival full of intergenerational star power, from George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jude Law to Jacob Elordi, Emma Stone and Ayo Edebiri, the arrival of Dwayne Johnson’s Monday for the world premiere of The crushing machine However, made for a moment of shows.

“This transformation was something that really was hungry to make,” Johnson said about his unusual protagonist turn in Bennie Safdie’s visceral drama. “I had been very lucky to have the career I have had over the years and make the movies I have made, but there was only one voice inside me, a small voice that said: ‘Well, what would happen if I could do more? I want to do more and how is that?'”

The crushing machine It represents a daring leap of the best strings for the actor, one of the largest film stars, known for box office successes and the show instead of the prestigious cinema stripped and emotionally driven. Anticipation for The crushing machine He has been fervent amid the fans of Johnson’s action legions and cinema fans equally, while prize analysts are ready to evaluate the dramatic skills of the action star for Oscar’s potential. The drama was made by the independent tankers A24 for $ 40 million, a fraction of the mega store budgets generally gathered around the action hero.

Written and directed by Benny Safdie, The crushing machine Strata to Johnson as Mark Kerr, the legendary UFC heavyweight champion and MMA icon. The story follows Kerr’s meteoric ascent in the era without MMA restrictions of the 1990s and the personal demons that fought outside the ring, including a heartbreaking fight with analgesic addiction. He is inspired by Real Kerr’s career (related to a 2002 HBO documentary of the same name) and deepens his pain, addiction and struggle for redemption. Emily Blunt plays Kerr’s wife, Dawn Staples, bringing new emotional layers to the chemistry she established with Johnson in the Disney Tentpole, Jungle cruise. Blunt is a close friend of the actor in real life and, according to reports, played a fundamental role in bringing The crushing machineDirector and star together after gathering and connecting with Safdie on the set of Oppenheimerin which they co -starred.

Johnson was excited when he discussed Kerr’s personal fight, which he was trusted to represent on the screen. Kerr was sitting near the front of the crowd at the Venice Press Conference and was visibly moved during many of Johnson’s statements.

“Mark was the best fighter in the world at one time, but this movie is not even really about fighting, it is a love story,” said Johnson, who grows up with heavy eyes. “It is a love story about Mark and Dawn in this relationship, and it is a love story about Mark and the love he had for what he did: his struggle to try to fulfill [in the ring]His challenges and overcoming. As you know, Mark Od became twice, and he is lucky enough to be alive, and that is part of why this story is so special. “

The crushing machine It is Benny Safdie’s first effort without his brother, Josh Safdie, with whom he has made a series of favorite worship thrillers, as Spree (2017), starring Robert Pattinson, and Unbuilding gems (2019), with Adam Sandler. (The TV series also co-author of 2023 The curse With Nathan Fielder.)

Johnson regularly referred to Blunt as his “best friend”, and highlighted how instrumental he was to help him make this dramatic turn in his career.

“From the moment we work in Jungle cruise Together, she really encouraged and believed in me and said: “You know, there is a place where you can put all the things you have been through when you are a child,” he explained. “I’ve been very close to Emily and I shared a lot about everything I have happened, and she said: ‘That place is what you love doing, which is acting, and you have me, so we do this together.’ And then Benny was on the other side of that, saying: ‘Hey, I have them both and we go for it.

Johnson pointed out how the box office “can be very strong” and push an actor “to a corner” where the industry says: “This is its lane” and “This is what people want you to do.”

“I understood that,” Johnson continued, “So I made those movies, and I liked them, they were fun. Some were really good and they did well, and others not so good …”

He added: “Many times it is more difficult for us, or at least for me sometimes, knowing what you are capable of when you have accelerated … Sometimes you need the people you love and respect, such as Emily and Benny, to say that you can.”

In Venice, Safdie described his intentions for the film in the statement of an official director, writing: “The Smashing Machine: to Perfect Onomatopeye for something visual, conjuring images of domination and destruction with ease. Mark Kerr really was the machine to crush. Would you really be food at dawn? We wanted to empathize with these characters in a way that felt like our own feelings.

A24 will launch The crushing machine In US cinemas on October 3. The study is organizing a luxurious party in a palazzo in Venice on Monday night to celebrate the world premiere of the film, with Safdie, Johnson, Blunt in real life, Mark Kerr also hoped to attend.