Dwayne Johnson is reminding fans of his original “The Rock” title for his indie moment in “The Smashing Machine.”
Johnson stars as Mma legend Mark Kerr, who infamously struggled with an addiction to painkillers. Benny Safdie marks his solo directorial debut with the A24 feature. Safdie penned the script based on Kerr’s real-life story and rise in the UFC. Per the initial A24 announcement, Johnson’s most dramatic project yet follows Mma fighter Kerr’s career peak during the “no-holds-barred era of the UFC” in 2000. Kerr was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion.
Kerr was previously the subject of the 2002 documentary also titled “The Smashing Machine,” which detailed his Mma career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC, and Pride.
Johnson and Safdie have been collaborators on the project since Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions acquired the rights in 2019. A24 later joined as a partner in 2023. Johnson and Dany Garcia...
Johnson stars as Mma legend Mark Kerr, who infamously struggled with an addiction to painkillers. Benny Safdie marks his solo directorial debut with the A24 feature. Safdie penned the script based on Kerr’s real-life story and rise in the UFC. Per the initial A24 announcement, Johnson’s most dramatic project yet follows Mma fighter Kerr’s career peak during the “no-holds-barred era of the UFC” in 2000. Kerr was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion.
Kerr was previously the subject of the 2002 documentary also titled “The Smashing Machine,” which detailed his Mma career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC, and Pride.
Johnson and Safdie have been collaborators on the project since Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions acquired the rights in 2019. A24 later joined as a partner in 2023. Johnson and Dany Garcia...
- 5/21/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
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.
Thanks for all the great questions.
Here’s a sense of my training schedule during my training camp for “The Smashing Machine”
Thanks for all the support- means a lot to me.
Back to work.
Have a productive week.
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.
Thanks for all the great questions.
Here’s a sense of my training schedule during my training camp for “The Smashing Machine”
Thanks for all the support- means a lot to me.
Back to work.
Have a productive week.
- 5/7/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Negotiations are underway to bring Academy Award-nominated Emily Blunt to the Dwayne Johnson film vehicle The Smashing Machine.
Blunt would play Dawn Staples, the new wife to Mma champion Mark Kerr. While trying to set up a life together, Dawn struggles to find her place within Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.
The film is a drama based on the story of Kerr, the legendary Mma fighter from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC. He struggles with addiction, winning, love, and friendship, set in the year 2000.
During his Mma career, Kerr 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 4x Adcc World Submission Champion.
In 2003, Kerr was the subject of an HBO documentary titled The Smashing Machine, which detailed his Mma career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC and Pride.
The film...
Blunt would play Dawn Staples, the new wife to Mma champion Mark Kerr. While trying to set up a life together, Dawn struggles to find her place within Mark’s chaotic and contradictory world.
The film is a drama based on the story of Kerr, the legendary Mma fighter from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC. He struggles with addiction, winning, love, and friendship, set in the year 2000.
During his Mma career, Kerr 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 4x Adcc World Submission Champion.
In 2003, Kerr was the subject of an HBO documentary titled The Smashing Machine, which detailed his Mma career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC and Pride.
The film...
- 3/1/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Benny Safdie is set to make his solo directing debut with A24’s “The Smashing Machine” about Mma fighter Mark Kerr.
Real-life WWE alum Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will return to his roots to portray Kerr onscreen in the biopic, capturing Kerr’s rise in the UFC. Per the A24 announcement, Johnson’s most dramatic project yet follows Mma fighter Kerr’s career peak during the “no-holds-barred era of the UFC” in 2000. Two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion Kerr’s struggles with addiction, competition, and his love life will be captured in the film.
A24 will produce and finance “The Smashing Machine,” which is written by Safdie. Lead star Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions will produce alongside Safdie’s Out for the Count banner, Eli Bush, and David Koplan.
Johnson and Safdie have been collaborators on the project since Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions acquired the rights in...
Real-life WWE alum Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will return to his roots to portray Kerr onscreen in the biopic, capturing Kerr’s rise in the UFC. Per the A24 announcement, Johnson’s most dramatic project yet follows Mma fighter Kerr’s career peak during the “no-holds-barred era of the UFC” in 2000. Two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion Kerr’s struggles with addiction, competition, and his love life will be captured in the film.
A24 will produce and finance “The Smashing Machine,” which is written by Safdie. Lead star Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions will produce alongside Safdie’s Out for the Count banner, Eli Bush, and David Koplan.
Johnson and Safdie have been collaborators on the project since Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions acquired the rights in...
- 12/13/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: As production on his new actioner Den of Thieves 2: Pantera continues, Christian Gudegast has been set to write and direct a new film on mixed martial artist Royce Gracie and the birth of the Ultimate Fighting Championship for frequent partner Tucker Tooley Entertainment.
The Untitled Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Project takes place on the night that Gracie proved Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as the most effective fighting style, one that would ultimately become a major component of today’s UFC mixed martial arts. It more specifically chronicles Gracie’s debut in UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, when the fighter achieved the unthinkable during the organization’s inaugural competition. This night that had him besting three competitors is considered to be that on which the UFC was born.
Derived from Japanese jiu-jitsu, which is rooted in samurai traditions, Gracie Jiu-jitsu formed in Brazil in the 1920s when Japanese fighter Mitsuyo Maeda moved from Japan to...
The Untitled Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Project takes place on the night that Gracie proved Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as the most effective fighting style, one that would ultimately become a major component of today’s UFC mixed martial arts. It more specifically chronicles Gracie’s debut in UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, when the fighter achieved the unthinkable during the organization’s inaugural competition. This night that had him besting three competitors is considered to be that on which the UFC was born.
Derived from Japanese jiu-jitsu, which is rooted in samurai traditions, Gracie Jiu-jitsu formed in Brazil in the 1920s when Japanese fighter Mitsuyo Maeda moved from Japan to...
- 5/23/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
David Becker/AP/Press Association Images
At a press conference late Wednesday in Tokyo, while on a media tour in Asia promoting the upcoming Ufc Fight Night in China, Dana White announced a historic partnership with Vale Tudo Japan/Shooto to air an Mma competition similar to the Ultimate Fighter, though the show will apparently not carry the Tuf name.
Vale Tudo Japan initially featured annual tournament format events, run by Shooto, though they later dropped the tournament format. First occurring in 1994, there would be no Vtj event for 10 years between 1999 and 2009. The last Vtj event was in 2013, which saw Megumi Fumi lose her retirement match due to a Tko delivered by Jessica Aguilar in the main event.
The deal is historic as the Ufc has traditionally refrained from co-promoting events with other organizations. Japan, however, is a notoriously difficult market for a foreign operation to break into, and while...
At a press conference late Wednesday in Tokyo, while on a media tour in Asia promoting the upcoming Ufc Fight Night in China, Dana White announced a historic partnership with Vale Tudo Japan/Shooto to air an Mma competition similar to the Ultimate Fighter, though the show will apparently not carry the Tuf name.
Vale Tudo Japan initially featured annual tournament format events, run by Shooto, though they later dropped the tournament format. First occurring in 1994, there would be no Vtj event for 10 years between 1999 and 2009. The last Vtj event was in 2013, which saw Megumi Fumi lose her retirement match due to a Tko delivered by Jessica Aguilar in the main event.
The deal is historic as the Ufc has traditionally refrained from co-promoting events with other organizations. Japan, however, is a notoriously difficult market for a foreign operation to break into, and while...
- 6/26/2014
- by Jay Anderson
- Obsessed with Film
It's a double impact of Jean Claude Van Damme film remake news today, though sadly it doesn't include 1991's "Double Impact" itself.
Rather, a pair of the 'Muscles from Brussels' late 1980s martial arts features are undergoing the remake/reboot treatment - 1988's "Bloodsport" and 1989's "Kickboxer".
"V for Vendetta" helmer James McTeigue is set to direct the "Bloodsport" remake over at Relativity.
Robert Kamen penned the script from a story by Kamen and Phillip Noyce. Craig Rosenberg will work on a McTeigue-sanctioned rewrite.
In the original, Van Damme played an American Army officer whose skill with ninjutsu comes in handy when he engages in a Hong Kong underground fighting tournament.
The new version's protagonists are "morally-conflicted 21st century mercenaries", while the fighting style is that of Brazilian Vale Tudo.
Meanwhile, Radar Pictures is producing a reboot of the "Kickboxer" franchise with Hong Kong director Stephen Fung ("Tai Chi Zero") set to direct the project.
Rather, a pair of the 'Muscles from Brussels' late 1980s martial arts features are undergoing the remake/reboot treatment - 1988's "Bloodsport" and 1989's "Kickboxer".
"V for Vendetta" helmer James McTeigue is set to direct the "Bloodsport" remake over at Relativity.
Robert Kamen penned the script from a story by Kamen and Phillip Noyce. Craig Rosenberg will work on a McTeigue-sanctioned rewrite.
In the original, Van Damme played an American Army officer whose skill with ninjutsu comes in handy when he engages in a Hong Kong underground fighting tournament.
The new version's protagonists are "morally-conflicted 21st century mercenaries", while the fighting style is that of Brazilian Vale Tudo.
Meanwhile, Radar Pictures is producing a reboot of the "Kickboxer" franchise with Hong Kong director Stephen Fung ("Tai Chi Zero") set to direct the project.
- 7/25/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Variety has learned that James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Raven) has signed on to remake Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1988 martial arts film "Bloodsport," with plans of filming in both Australia and Rio de Janeiro. Van Damme starred in the original film as American Frank Dux, who is invited to participate in a deadly martial arts tournament called the Kumite. The new film is said to explore Brazil's Vale Tudo fighting style. The script is written by Robert Mark Kamen (Taken). Meanwhile, Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Zero) has been hired to direct a reboot of Van Damme's 1989 "Kickboxer" film, about a man out to avenge his brother by learning the Muay Thai fighting style.
- 7/25/2013
- WorstPreviews.com
First Stallone, now Van Damme, it seems today was the day to reboot the films of 80s action stars. The latest is Bloodsport, the 1988 action film that served as Jean-Claude Van Damme‘s first major starring role (outside of his turn as ‘Gay Karate Man’ in Monaco Forever). Variety reports that James McTeigue, of V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin, will be directing the upcoming remake. While the original film was based off of a somewhat-true story (the real-life version of Van Damme’s character, Frank Dux, allegedly fought in a bloody tournament similar to the filmed one), the updated story will likely have a political edge. Two years ago, it was reported that a new Bloodsport would follow a mercenary fresh from Afghanistan, who seeks respite from violence but ends up in a deadly Brazilian fighting tournament. There’s no word on the Afghanistan angle, but Variety’s article does include the phrases “21st century mercenaries...
- 7/25/2013
- by Adam Bellotto
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Variety is reporting that director James McTeigue will be bringing us a reboot of the ’80s martial arts thriller Bloodsport. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, the original film wasn’t exactly a classic (in fact, it got panned by critics) but it did well at the box office and was one of Jcvd’s first starring roles, allowing the actor to show off his impressive athletic abilities.
The reboot is said to “explore the life of 21st century mercenaries as they collide with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting.” Written by Robert Mark Kamen and Phillip Noyce, the script will undergo a re-write from Craig Rosenberg before the film heads into production.
Casting hasn’t been announced but this project has been around for a while and Van Damme’s expressed interest in taking a role. That being said, Kamen doesn’t think that Jvcd should be in the film,...
The reboot is said to “explore the life of 21st century mercenaries as they collide with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting.” Written by Robert Mark Kamen and Phillip Noyce, the script will undergo a re-write from Craig Rosenberg before the film heads into production.
Casting hasn’t been announced but this project has been around for a while and Van Damme’s expressed interest in taking a role. That being said, Kamen doesn’t think that Jvcd should be in the film,...
- 7/25/2013
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Art by Enzo Sciotti
V for Vendetta director James McTeigue is set to direct a remake of the classic 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme action film Bloodsport. The original script for the remake was written by Taken scribe Robert Mark Kamen, and it will be rewritten by Craig Rosenberg.
According to Variety, the new film will explore the life of 21st century mercenaries as they collide with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting.
I loved what McTeigue did with V for Vendetta, but since then his films have been crap. Those other films are Ninja Assassin and The Raven. I hope he does something fun with this, but the fact that it's a Bloodsport remake tells me it's probably going to end up being a mediocre action film. Who knows though, maybe they'll cast some badass martial artists that will put on some epic fight sequences.
...
V for Vendetta director James McTeigue is set to direct a remake of the classic 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme action film Bloodsport. The original script for the remake was written by Taken scribe Robert Mark Kamen, and it will be rewritten by Craig Rosenberg.
According to Variety, the new film will explore the life of 21st century mercenaries as they collide with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting.
I loved what McTeigue did with V for Vendetta, but since then his films have been crap. Those other films are Ninja Assassin and The Raven. I hope he does something fun with this, but the fact that it's a Bloodsport remake tells me it's probably going to end up being a mediocre action film. Who knows though, maybe they'll cast some badass martial artists that will put on some epic fight sequences.
...
- 7/25/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Somewhere in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s house, we like to imagine his mobile is practically throwing itself off tables as production companies try to reach him to discuss cameos in two separate remakes of his early films. First up, we have movement on Bloodsport, with V For Vendetta director James McTeigue now attached.The 1988 version of Bloodsport, which helped launch the splits-loving fighter as an action star, found Jcvd as an American Army officer whose ninja training comes in handy when competing in the underground Hong Kong tournament called the Kumite.McTeigue’s take shoves the story into the 21st century, focusing on mercenaries who scrap in the equally unsafe art of Brazilian Vale Tudo, as employed by Donald Gibb’s Ray Jackson in the original. Writer Robert Mark Kamen has written the early draft from a story originally developed by Phillip Noyce when he was slated to direct, but...
- 7/25/2013
- EmpireOnline
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s 1988 breakout film Bloodsport is getting a remake via Relativity Media with James McTeigue directing. I wish I could get more excited but honestly, V for Vendetta is the only decent film McTeigue has directed, with all his follow-ups at the helm being stinkers including Ninja Assassin and the absolutely appalling The Raven. Variety reports that Relativity produces alongside Edward R. Pressman, Chris Brown, Alberto Lensi, Trans-American Films and Pictures in Paradise and Intl. Taken scribe Robert Mark Kamen wrote the script which is now being rewritten by Craig Rosenberg under McTeigue's supervision. The story explores the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting, and the mercenaries of today who are destined to go head to head. Phillip Noyce and Kamen wrote the story.
- 7/24/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Over two years ago, news came from Cannes that Salt director Phillip Noyce was going to direct a remake of Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1988 underground martial arts drama Bloodsport. However, no details have emerged since then. Now Variety reports V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue has boarded the project with Relativity Media behind the reboot. The script still comes from Robert Mark Kamen, the writer of The Fifth Element, Taken and The Transporter franchise, who developed the story with Noyce, with a rewrite coming from Craig Rosenberg (The Uninvited), supervised by McTeigue himself. Though a cast still needs to be rounded up, the story is said to follow mercenaries in present day as they get involved with the underground world of Brazilian Vale Tudo (which means "anything goes") fighting. Originally, we heard the story followed a single American who goes to Brazil to recover from the violence...
- 7/24/2013
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Oh, don't act so surprised. Those of you with a good memory will recall that about two years ago, talk of a "Bloodsport" remake burbled up with Phillip Noyce ("Patriot Games," "Salt," "Clear And Present Danger") was set to direct a "reinvention" of the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic. And then nothing was heard about it again...until today. Yes, "Bloodsport" is coming again to take you to the mat, but with a different name at the helm. James McTeigue ("V For Vendetta," "Ninja Assassin") is now slated for the redo, but the story remains the same. The project has a script from the long-attached Robert Mark Kamen ("The Fifth Element," "Taken," "Columbiana") and the story will follow an American who rolls in with Brazilian Vale Tudo fighting. Previously, the lead was also going to be a veteran from Afghanistan, but no word if those elements are still in play. Mostly,...
- 7/24/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
V For Vendetta and The Raven helmer James McTeigue is set to direct a remake of the 1988 martial arts film Bloodsport . Variety reports that Relativity has plans to shoot the new take in both Australia and Rio de Janeiro. Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in the original film as American Frank Dux, a Ninjustu expert invited to participate in a deadly martial arts tournament called the Kumite. The new film is said to explore Brazil's Vale Tudo fighting style. Robert Mark Kamen ( Taken ) is providing the screenplay for the new version, which will be produced by Chris Brown, Alberto Lensi and Edward R. Pressman. The lengthy list of executive producers includes Daniel Bernhardt, Mark Disalle, Heidi Eckes-Chantre, Jon Katz, Ryan Kavanaugh, Jeremy Thomas, Brett Thornquest and Tucker...
- 7/24/2013
- Comingsoon.net
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