One of A24‘s biggest 2025 releases has an official release date. Deadline reports that Benny Safdie‘s “The Smashing Machine,” a biopic starring Dwayne Johnson as MMA fighter Mark Kerr, will hit theaters on October 3. That’s a premier release date, and hints that A24 may have awards season aspirations of the picture, as well as a Fall festival world premiere.
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But there’s a practical element to this theatrical release date, too. Lionsgate lifted their Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” from that weekend this week, which left it open for another studio to swoop in on. And that’s exactly what A24 did. Now Safdie’s film faces off against Derek Cianfrance‘s “Roofman” and Oz Perkins‘ “The Keeper” on October 3. Who will win the three-way dance between A24, Paramount, and NEON for box office supremacy?
The smart money will be on “The Smashing Machine.” Love him or hate him, Johnson remains one of Hollywood’s biggest actors. Add in Safdie, who’s working without his brother Joshua on the movie, A24’s clout, and Emily Blunt as Johnson’s co-star, and on paper, that’s a winning recipe or box office success. But “The Smashing Machine” also remains an industry mystery. Safdie writes and produces the film on top of directing, but his working with Johnson raises some eyebrows. And the biopic’s scope is hazy, too. Is this a traditional biographic film or does Safdie have something more slippery in mind? That question likely won’t be answered until the first trailer for “The Smashing Machine” drops later this year.
Safdie produces the pic via his Out For The Count banner. Johnson also produces through his Seven Bucks Productions with Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia. David Koplan and Eli Bush also produce the film.
As noted earlier, don’t be surprised if “The Smashing Machine” gets a world premiere at Venice, Telluride, or TIFF before it hits theaters in October.
