Dwayne Johnson & Emily Blunt’s Acclaimed New R-Rated Box Office Flop Finally Hits Streaming Next Month

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The sports drama The Smashing Machine, directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, will be available to stream on HBO Max. The film tells the story of UFC champion Mark Kerr, focusing on both his career and personal challenges. While there was some excitement surrounding it, the movie didn’t perform well in theaters, earning only $21 million globally despite costing between $40 and $50 million to make.

As a huge fan of the Safdie brothers, I was really excited to see this – it’s Josh and Benny Safdie’s first full movie since Uncut Gems back in 2019. And it’s cool that Josh also put out a film this year, Marty Supreme, which feels like a wild companion piece to The Smashing Machine. A24 has clearly become their go-to studio, having backed both of these new ones, as well as Uncut Gems a few years back. They really know how to support interesting filmmaking.

Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that The Smashing Machine will be available to stream on HBO Max starting January 23, 2026. While the film didn’t perform well in theaters, it has the potential to find an audience on streaming, particularly after stars Johnson and Blunt received 2026 Golden Globe nominations for their roles.

HBO Max is set to have a strong month with the release of several highly anticipated titles. Among them is The Smashing Machine, a new film debuting on the platform. Additionally, the 2025 A24 film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You will become available to stream, and the original series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—the second spin-off from the popular show Game of Thrones—will premiere on January 18th.

While The Smashing Machine initially seemed like a possible Oscar contender, it’s now unlikely to receive any nominations, largely because the Golden Globes have more acting categories than the Academy Awards. Marty Supreme is still considered the leading candidate for Best Picture in 2026, but Benny Safdie is poised to appear in several major films that year.

Josh Safdie is joining the cast of the new Super Mario movie, voicing Bowser Jr. in the sequel to the 2023 blockbuster. He’s also appearing as Agamemnon in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey, which recently released its first trailer. In addition to acting, Safdie is currently writing and directing a fantasy adventure movie called Lizard Music.

I’m really excited to see what Dwayne Johnson does with his upcoming projects! He’s going to be in Lizard Music, plus the live-action Moana and another Fast & Furious movie are on the way. Emily Blunt is bringing back her famous character in The Devil Wears Prada 2 this summer, and it’s awesome she’ll be working with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway again. But before all that, we can catch both of them in The Smashing Machine, which is coming to streaming soon – I can’t wait to check it out!

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2025-12-22 20:48