👋 Your watchlist just got better.

• 🎥 Nobody 2 | 8.15

• 🎥 Americana* | 8.15

• 🎥 Highest 2 Lowest | 8.15

We spoke with writer-director Tony Tost of Americana here.

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FEATURE

👊 How A24 Might Save The Rock's Career

Dwayne Johnson is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, with films grossing over $14 billion worldwide. Yet for all his box office dominance, critical acclaim has remained elusive. His highest-rated film remains Disney's Moana (95% on Rotten Tomatoes), while recent efforts like Black Adam and Red One have been met with critical indifference despite massive budgets.

The problem isn't Johnson's star power—it's his safety net. For years, The Rock has been playing The Rock in increasingly expensive packaging. Reports of his contractual demands, including allegedly stipulating he couldn't decisively lose fights (as rumored during Hobbs & Shaw), reveal an actor protecting his image at the expense of artistic growth. The result? A string of formulaic action spectacles where vulnerability is as rare as a box office bomb in his filmography.

But The Smashing Machine represents something different entirely. This A24 biographical drama, directed by Benny Safdie, forces Johnson to embody broken MMA fighter Mark Kerr—a man struggling with addiction, defeat, and genuine human frailty. Johnson himself acknowledged the shift, telling Variety: "I'm at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I've not pushed myself in the past... I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain."

The early signs are promising. Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera, who initially expected a "spectacular film," was surprised to discover "a really great movie about two great characters" that could be Oscar-bound. The transformation appears genuine—Johnson is nearly unrecognizable in the role, complete with facial prosthetics and an authentic commitment to Kerr's tortured journey.

Why This Matters Now

• Box office success without critical respect has ceiling effects — even Johnson's recent hits like Moana 2 can't erase the perception that he's a limited performer

• A24's track record with career reinventions — the studio helped Adam Sandler find new depths in Uncut Gems and transformed perceptions of numerous actors

• Johnson's best early work — Gridiron Gang, Walking Tall, and The Rundown — showed genuine dramatic range before the franchise machine took over

The Rock's career doesn't need saving financially—it needs saving artistically. If The Smashing Machine succeeds, it could unlock the dramatic actor Johnson showed glimpses of being before he became imprisoned by his own mythology. Sometimes the biggest risk for the world's biggest movie star is simply being human on screen.

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