The Smashing Machine Set An Unwanted Box Office Record For Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of the most successful wrestlers-turned-actors in history. By some measures he's the most successful, as his movies have made more than $15 billion at the global box office. But his star power has its limits, as evidenced by the very disappointing opening for his latest, "The Smashing Machine." It now ranks as the worst opening ever for a movie in which Johnson had a leading role.

Directed by Benny Safdie and released by A24, "The Smashing Machine" opened to just $6 million domestically this past weekend. That was far below pre-release expectations, which had it pulling in $10 million on the low side. Needless to say, it fell well short of that mark. To make matters worse, the movie carries a $50 million budget, which doesn't account for marketing expenses. This beats the actor's previous low, which was set by "Faster" ($8.5 million opening/$35 million worldwide).

Working against A24, Johnson, and Safdie was bad timing. Taylor Swift dropped "The Official Release Party of A Showgirl" over the weekend, which made $33 million, easily topping the charts. When the studio originally staked out this date on the release calendar, Swift was nowhere to be found. In any case, one would think these two releases could co-exist as counterprogramming. That's now how things shook out.

Johnson has been in movies that had lower opening weekends, such as "Jem and the Holograms" ($1.3 million opening), but that was just a cameo far earlier in his career. This, on the other hand, was a buzzy awards season-friendly biopic about MMA legend Mark Kerr. Johnson has earned rave reviews for his work in "Smashing Machine," with legit Oscar buzz surrounding him. It's remarkable that his star power couldn't carry this movie any further.

This box office result is very surprising for a man who was once known as "franchise Viagra" for his ability to take tentpoles to the next level. "Fast Five" became a $626 million global smash hit in no small part thanks to the addition of Johnson as Hobbs. The actor similarly helped supercharge the "Jumanji" franchise. Not to mention "Moana 2" becoming a $1 billion hit just last year.

Even so, Johnson's star power only extends so far when we're not talking about an audience-friendly blockbuster. Getting people out to the movies to see a drama made for adults or anything original is exceptionally difficult. Johnson has admitted to chasing the box office in his career prior to this, and with "The Smashing Machine," he was seeking to challenge himself as an actor in new ways.

The shame of it is, on paper, it truly seemed like Johnson was a big enough star to help elevate something like this for the average moviegoer. That's not at all how it panned out. Even so, Johnson is taking it all in stride. Taking to Instagram, the actor expressed his gratitude to those who saw the movie, while acknowledging that it didn't meet expectations:

"From deep in my grateful bones, thank you to everyone who has watched 'The Smashing Machine.' 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."

"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," Johnson added.

"The Smashing Machine" is in theaters now.