The hype builds with the new trailer for The Smashing Machine

The Smashing Machine has been a big curiosity piece for many audiences since it was revealed that Dwayne Johnson, who had been known for his superstar roles in big-budget movies like Black Adam and Red One, would be stepping into a character study piece with Benny Safdie directing him. The Safdie brothers gained high acclaim when they directed Adam Sandler in the anxiety-inducing Uncut Gems. The Smashing Machine‘s release is just around the corner, and hype for the film is building like a high-profile championship fight.

A24 has just released a new trailer, and much of the praise displayed by critics goes to Johnson. Hype has also been building around Johnson’s performance and how he stepped up to the challenge of portraying real-life UFC figure Mark Kerr. The trailer drops on the heels of the film premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and ending the screening with a 15-minute standing ovation. Glowing reviews would then pour in.

Johnson recently talked about how nervous he was to accept this role. “It was very real. I had not experienced that in a very, very, very long time, where I was really scared and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do this. Can I do this?’” Johnson said. “I realized that maybe these opportunities weren’t coming my way because I was too scared to explore this stuff… I was so hungry for an opportunity to do something raw and gritty and rip myself open. And all of a sudden, ‘Smashing Machine’ comes along.“

Emily Blunt, who also stars as Kerr’s wife Dawn Staples, added that Johnson “has been pigeonholed into the image of the big hero who’s got all the answers and he’s going to fix everything and he’s invincible. I think until this moment, maybe he thought that was the only lane that people wanted to see him in.“

Mark Kerr was known to be an incredible in-ring talent, proving to be an NCAA wrestling champion and a team trial winner with USA Wrestling, which partly focuses on freestyle wrestling. Once he hit the UFC scene, Kerr became a two-time heavyweight tournament champion in 1997. Notably, that first championship came via his second fight in the organization, beating Dan Bobish via submission in under two minutes. Mark Kerr was previously the subject of a documentary all the way back in 2002.

The Smashing Machine steps into the ring in the U.S. on October 3.

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