THE SMASHING MACHINE, directed and written by Benny Safdie, is a gritty biographical sports drama based on the life of MMA and UFC icon Mark Kerr.
The movie, which will be released by A24 on October 3, 2025, is about Kerr’s rise to fame and his inner struggles. Kerr was the best in the early no-holds-barred era of mixed martial arts. Kerr was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion and a star for PRIDE FC—sbut he also had personal problems along the way—such as drug abuse and emotional turmoil.
The story of Kerr is brought to life by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a raw and visually compelling way. Emily Blunt stars as Dawn Staples, Kerr’s girlfriend, while Ryan Bader plays MMA fighter Mark Coleman. Other key cast members include Bas Rutten, Stephen Quadros, Satoshi Ishii, Yoko Hamamura, James Moontasri, Oleksandr Usyk, and Lyndsey Gavin.
WHERE WAS THE SMASHING MACHINE FILMED?
Principal photography for The Smashing Machine took place from May 21 to August 7, 2024. The film was shot across three major locations — the American Southwest, Canada, and Japan. These locations mirror Kerr’s complex life path: from American wrestling gyms to global MMA arenas.
1. NEW MEXICO, USA
An important part of many of the American scenes in the movie took place in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque, with its movie-like desert settings and rough city streets, was the perfect place to show Kerr’s early life and rise to fame.
Several scenes featuring Johnson’s character in training, recovery, and moments of solitude were filmed in authentic gym locations, including re-creations of real MMA rings from the 1990s. Local boxing gyms and retro-fitted warehouses were used for the underground fight scenes. Filmmaker Maceo Bishop used a mix of handheld cameras and 16mm film to shoot these scenes, which gave them a documentary-like feel.
2. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
Vancouver, a popular filming destination, stood in for multiple urban settings throughout THE SMASHING MACHINE. It was chosen not only for its flexibility in location doubles but also for its production infrastructure. Production teams recreated Mark Kerr’s home environments and backstage moments before major fights here.
The local MMA community in Vancouver was also involved. Local martial arts gyms were used to stage some of the fight scenes, and a few Canadian fighters appeared as extras or stunt doubles—which helped make the action scenes seem more real.
3. TOKYO, JAPAN
Japan’s Tokyo was a very important place for filming scenes from PRIDE FC, which was an important part of Kerr’s career. Tokyo Dome and other sports arenas in Japan were featured, bringing authenticity to Kerr’s rise in the Japanese fighting circuit. The neon-soaked streets and local gyms added a powerful layer of realism and culture to the Tokyo-set sequences.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Cast and crew worked very hard and became very involved in making THE SMASHING MACHINE. Dwayne Johnson put in a lot of hard, MMA training to play Kerr—and he worked closely with real-life fighters and trainers to make sure he captured the emotional and physical weight of the part.
During filming, director Benny Safdie stressed the importance of capturing honest, raw emotion. Dwayne Johnson prepared physically and emotionally to play Kerr’s complex character in several behind-the-scenes moments..
Johnson even took time off filming to speak passionately about the project’s vision and importance—at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.
Nala Sinephro, a Belgian musician known for her ambient and jazz-influenced scores, was chosen to give the movie a unique and emotional soundscape. This one-of-a-kind choice adds to the strange and immersive nature of Safdie’s writing.
The production maintained a collaborative and tight-knit environment—with Emily Blunt later calling the shoot “an incredibly immersive, very intense, very emotional experience.” She praised Safdie as “a very cool, aesthetically exciting, visual director,” underlining the artistic commitment behind every scene.
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