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Christopher Nolan Predicts Dwayne Johnson’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ Will Be “Better Understood Over Time” After Box Office Flop
Christopher Nolan Predicts Dwayne Johnson’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ Will Be “Better Understood Over Time” After Box Office Flop-March 2024
Mar 10, 2026 9:44 PM

Christopher Nolan is weighing in on Dwayne The Rock Johnsons latest film, The Smashing Machine, which is underperforming at the box office and he is showing his support for Johnson.

Nolan recently appeared on an episode of The Directors Cut podcast with Smashing Machine director Benny Safdie, who was in Oppenheimer, which won Nolan his first best director Oscar. During the discussion, Nolan praised Johnsons performance as heartbreaking.

I think its an incredible performance, Nolan continued. I dont think youll see a better performance this year or most other years. In the film, Johnson plays MMA fighter Mark Kerr, and it follows his personal struggles with addiction and his relationship with his wife, Dawn (Emily Blunt), while hes at the height of his career. The role was a dramatic turn for Johnson, and had early awards season buzz until audiences snubbed the film.

Even though the movie, released on Oct. 3, won Safdie the best director prize at the Venice Film Festival, received solid reviews and currently has a 71 percent critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has earned $10 million domestically so far. The film cost $50 million to produce.

After its first weekend at the box office, Johnson took to social media to react to the outcome. In our storytelling world, you cant controlbox officeresults but what I realized you can control is your performance, and your commitment to completely disappear and go elsewhere, he wrote. And I will always run to that opportunity.

However, despite this, Nolan shared his predictions for the film with Safdie. Its a really remarkable and radical piece of work that will be understood more and more over time, Nolan said. Im very proud to know you.

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