The Rock did not care about the Box Office performance of The Smashing Machine. The Great One recently had a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, covering his tough childhood, failed football career, his start in WWE, and more.
One of the main themes of the interview was how The Smashing Machine represents a big shift in The Rock’s approach to life. The Hollywood star mentioned how he has been doing family-friendly and happy-ending movies for a long time. It started as a way for him to avoid dealing with issues in his real life while he was going through a divorce back in 2008.
“Smashing Machine also represents a turning point in my career that I’ve wanted for a long time: for the first time in my career — 20 plus years since The Scorpion King came out — I made a film to challenge myself and to really rip myself open and to go elsewhere and disappear and transform. And not one time did I think about box office.”
Compared to his other blockbusters, The Smashing Machine was made with a limited budget of $50 million. The film failed to break even at the box office, having grossed only $20 million since its theatrical release last month.
The Rock mentioned how disappointing numbers can hit you hard. With this movie, however, The People’s Champion did not go through any such emotions. “I had not thought about that at all. And even that Friday night when we opened, I went to sleep peacefully and woke up peacefully because it represented this thing. And even though we didn’t do well [at the box office], or as well as we wanted to, it was okay because it just represented the thing I did for me.”
Despite the disappointing box office results, The Rock is not looking to stop experimenting with his work, although he is not abandoning franchise films. He revealed during the interview that he will soon start filming for the third installment of the Jumanji franchise.
While the film has not performed well commercially since its October release, The Smashing Machine has been a critical success. The movie has generated awards-season buzz, with many critics calling The Rock’s transformative performance as Mark Kerr the best of his career. He is expected to begin filming the sequel to Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) in early 2026, reprising his role as Dr. Smolder Bravestone.
