EXCLUSIVE: We understand Dwayne Johnson is due to be at the Cannes market next week to discuss upcoming A24 wrestling pic The Smashing Machine with potential buyers.
Of course, schedules can always change, but the plan at the moment is for The Rock to rock the Cannes market middle of next week.
In the past 24 hours, the actor has posted a couple of videos of his training schedule ahead of the role.
These buyer meet n’ greets with A-list talent or directors have been a fun market staple over the years but have been less frequent recently due to strikes, Covid and cost cut-backs. This will be a buzzy ticket among distributors.
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In The Smashing Machine, Johnson will play Mark Kerr, the legendary MMA fighter from the no-holds barred era of UFC. Emily Blunt has been in negotiations to join.
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The movie, which A24 is producing and financing, puts them back in business with Benny Safdie, who co-directed and co-wrote one of their big hits, Uncut Gems ($50 million at the domestic box office). Safdie also wrote the script for The Smashing Machine. A start date has yet to be revealed.
Johnson and Safdie have been collaborators on the project since Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions acquired rights in 2019. The pic will follow Kerr’s struggle with addiction, winning, love and friendship in the year 2000. Blunt would play Dawn Staples, the wife of the MMA champ. While trying to set up a life together, she struggles to find her place within Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.
Kerr is a former wrestler and mixed martial artist. During his MMA career he was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a Pride FC Heavyweight Champion, 1992 NCAA National Wrestling Champion, 1994 National Freestyle Champion and four-time ADCC World Submission Champion.
A24 and reps for Johnson declined to comment.