The Rock Reflects on 'The Smashing Machine' Box Office Disappointment

The future WWE Hall of Famer wrote on Instagram that while he couldn’t control the box office, he could control his performance. Overall, The Rock is happy with the role and film. He wrote:

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. Truth is this film has changed my life.With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy, dj.

How bad did the A24 film do at the box office? Well, it opened to $6 million at the domestic box office, and it was number 3 at the box office. Number one at the box office was Taylor Swift’s “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” and number two was the Leonardo DiCaprio film, “One Battle After Another.” The sports drama was originally projected to make between $15 to $20 million in its first week. As mentioned earlier, it’s the lowest opening in The Rock’s career. Before that, the record was held by his 2010 film “Faster.

Fans React To The Rock’s Social Media Post

“The Smashing Machine” is a departure from his usual action comedies and action-adventure films. This biopic has critics talking because it shows that he’s not just a one-dimensional actor, and it’s a big contender for the 2026 Academy Awards. Not surprisingly, The Rock had a lot of praise from fans. The comments on his post were mostly positive. One fan wrote:

“Incredible!!! A performance of a lifetime. It’s shakes you to your core. You’re brilliant DJ!”

While another said:

“I say this with all sincerity and truth…………you have a legit shot of winning the Oscar next year.”

One fan felt like they could resonate with it:

“Movie is great. Life lessons some will resonate with or feel related.”

A passionate fan felt that it didn’t do good at the box office because people would sadly rather watch a biopic about MMA Fighters like Conor McGregor. They wrote:

“The rocks beats performance ever. I said part is that people would rather watch a biopic on cu*** like Conor McGregor then watch movies showcasing who were the actual pioneers in the sport. 5 star performance by the whole cast.”

“The Smashing Machine” was directed by Benny Safdie with a budget of around $50 million. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Oleksandr Usyk, and Satoshi Ishii.