Christopher Nolan has thrown his weight behind Dwayne Johnson’s turn in The Smashing Machine, calling the performance “heartbreaking” and among the year’s best — a resounding endorsement arriving as the film struggles to connect at the box office.
Nolan’s take: “an incredible performance”
Appearing on The Director’s Cut podcast for an interview with The Smashing Machine director Benny Safdie, Nolan didn’t mince words about Johnson’s portrayal of MMA legend Mark Kerr. “I think it’s an incredible performance,” Nolan said. “I don’t think you’ll see a better performance this year or most other years.”
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The Oppenheimer and Inception filmmaker also praised Safdie’s film itself, saying, “Congratulations on the movie. It’s a really remarkable and radical piece of work that will be understood more and more over time. I’m very proud to know you.”
There was room for a little banter, too. Nolan teased Safdie about recruiting talent during Oppenheimer, where Safdie plays Hungarian-American theoretical physicist Edward Teller: “I heard a rumor that when you were supposed to be learning your lines on my set, you were actually canvassing people to be in your movie,” Nolan quipped to Safdie. “I wasn’t aware of that at the time, but it seems to have worked out great for you.”
Awards buzz vs. box office reality
Johnson’s performance — a dramatic pivot that generated early awards chatter — anchors a film tracking Kerr’s professional peaks and troughs, his struggle with substance abuse, and his turbulent marriage to Dawn (Emily Blunt). Safdie won best director at the Venice Film Festival, and the reviews have been healthy: the film currently holds a 70% critics’ score and a 76% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Nevertheless, commercial traction has been elusive: it opened to USD $5.9 million in the U.S. (a career-low domestic start for Johnson) and has, to date, grossed USD $11 million domestically and USD $18 million worldwide — underwhelming figures against a reported USD $50 million production budget.
Johnson’s response: control the work
Following the soft opening, Johnson shared a measured, process-first response about what can — and can’t — be controlled. “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,” he wrote on social media.
“It was my honor to transform in this role for my director, Benny Safdie. Thank you brother for believing in me. Truth is this film has changed my life. With deep gratitude, respect and radical empathy, DJ.”
The bigger picture
Between Nolan’s public salute, Safdie’s Venice win, and solid word from critics and audiences, The Smashing Machine sits in that tricky space where accolades and turnout don’t quite sync — at least not yet. If Nolan’s prediction holds, the film’s bruising intimacy and Johnson’s transformation could be the sort of work that grows in stature over time, buoyed by champions both inside and outside the industry.
