The upcoming film about legendary UFC star Mark Kerr has had a long and tumultuous journey to the big screen, with an unexpected twist involving action star Jean Claude Van Damme.
In 2019, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced his production company would be making a $40 million biopic about Mark Kerr, the fearsome heavyweight fighter known as “The Smashing Machine.” However, few knew that over a decade earlier, Van Damme was attached to star in an adaptation of the same story.
Actor Manu Bennett revealed he was cast to play Mark Kerr in a 2007 production of “The Smashing Machine,” with Van Damme set to portray Kerr’s coach, Boss Rutten. The film was scheduled to shoot in South Africa with several real MMA fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Shogun in the cast.
“Vanam was going to play my coach,” Bennett explained. “Well, Vanam didn’t show up on his plane and we’re all in South Africa ready to film this thing and he didn’t show up and the whole film fell over because of it.”
The cancellation was devastating for Bennett, who had undergone an intense physical transformation for the role. “I got back to Australia with not a dime in my pocket. I had to go work on a building site because I just had no income and I had no money left.”
Some attribute the project’s collapse to a lawsuit filed by Rico Rodriguez against the original “Smashing Machine” documentary. Rodriguez, who appeared in the film as Kerr’s training partner, successfully sued the filmmakers for portraying him negatively. As part of the settlement, Rodriguez received rights to footage featuring him, complicating any adaptation efforts.
The Rock had actually seen the documentary years earlier, having met Kerr around 1999 while training at Gold’s Gym. However, at that time Johnson “just didn’t have the power or the industry pull to make something like that happen nor the money to purchase the rights.”
Now, after overcoming various obstacles including the pandemic, Johnson’s vision for “The Smashing Machine” is finally becoming reality. The film stars Johnson as Kerr with Emily Blunt playing Kerr’s significant other, Dawn. UFC champion Alexander Usyk portrays Igor Vovchanchyn, while Kerr’s actual trainer Boss Rutten is being played by… Boss Rutten himself.
After nearly two decades of false starts and changing hands, Mark Kerr’s extraordinary story will finally reach theater audiences in October 2024.
