Variety wrote, external that “the film cost spent $50m (£37m) to produce (and plenty more to market)”, and early estimates predicted a healthy opening weekend of around $20m (£15m).
The Smashing Machine marks a rare dramatic role for Johnson, who is best known for action franchises and family-friendly turns, including voicing a character in Disney’s Moana animation.
He plays Kerr, a fighter who dominated the early, unregulated days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the 1990s – before rules such as “no eye-gouging” were introduced.
The film was developed from a 2002 documentary about Kerr with the same title – which contrasted the fighter’s achievements with more intimate scenes, as he battled substance abuse and fought with his girlfriend.
Johnson, a former wrestler, saw parallels to his own career in the documentary, and cherished the idea of dramatising it for several years.
Premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this summer, the arthouse biopic film received rave reviews.
“The actor delivers an intoxicating mix of blood, sweat, tears, protein and total helplessness,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter, external.
Empire magazine called it, external “the best work of his career”.
However, audiences failed to materialise.
As well as the disappointing US box office, the film came fourth in the UK charts, making just £863,078 – less than the Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, which has already been in cinemas for a month.
Audience tracking for the US suggested that 70% of ticket-buyers were male and 64% were between the ages of 18 to 36 – the traditional audience for Johnson’s action movies.
Only 8% were above 55 years old, a key demographic for arthouse releases.
Those who attended the film were apparently disappointed in the lack of action scenes, with audiences giving a lukewarm “B-” grade in exit polls, Variety said, while exploring why the film “flopped in its box office debut”.
