The Rock Receives Shocking Box Office News After Movie Premiere

The Rock has faced up to some difficult news after his latest movie hit theatres.

At Elimination Chamber in February 2025, The Rock was on hand to light the fuse on John Cena’s shocking heel turn. WWE fans expected to see The Rock back in the company throughout the year, especially at WrestleMania 41, but he remained conspicuous by his absence.

During his time away from WWE, The Rock has been focusing on his Hollywood career, which has included portraying troubled UFC star Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine. But he’s already got one eye on his next movie role as he has dramatically slimmed down in recent months.

The Smashing Machine has gained The Rock plenty of praise for his performance, and he’s being tipped for an Oscar nomination. And that might be more than enough to make up for the movie’s box office performance.

Deadline has reported that The Smashing Machine’s opening weekend only netted $6 million, the lowest of The Rock’s Hollywood career. While it was unlikely to match major numbers put up by action blockbusters such as San Andreas, at one point the movie was on track to rake in $20 million on its opening weekend.

The Rock Learns Empathy From Mark Kerr Role

In an interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning, The Final Boss explained how that role made him much more empathetic as a person:

I really realized that I think you’ll find interesting, and people watching, I think, will find this interesting. Becoming Mark Kerr really allowed me to become even more empathetic to the world. because I try to be empathetic. I try to not be too judgy. Wait and see. There might be context I’m missing out of something and or I don’t know what that person is going through.

That was a big thing that I realized is that I was talking to Benny Safdie about that, like, ‘Hey, you never know what people are going through,’ right? They could seem like they have it together, especially a guy like Mark Kerr, he’s on top of the world. He’s a world champion. He’s the greatest fighter on the planet, and he looks like he’s capable, but he’s just dying on the inside.

So, becoming Mark just allowed me to become even more empathetic, too. You just never know what people are going through.