WWE's The Rock Reportedly Got $4M for 'The Smashing Machine,' Gave Some to Kerr, Blunt

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is known as one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, but he made an admirable move for his latest project.

Anthony D'Alessandro of Deadline reported that Johnson took home a $4 million payday for his lead role in The Smashing Machine, which is "significantly below his historical $20M+ paycheck plus points." Sources told D'Alessandro that Johnson also gave a portion of his paycheck to his co-star Emily Blunt and UFC Hall of Famer Mark Kerr, who is the subject of the biopic.

D'Alessandro explained that Johnson's lowered payday for the project stemmed from "concerns" from foreign buyers "over its commerciality as a story with an unrecognizable Johnson onscreen and UFC's lesser-known cultural presence outside the United States."

The Smashing Machine was released in the United States on Friday and made $5.9 million during its opening weekend, marking Johnson's lowest opening of his career. D'Alessandro noted that it was just three weeks ago that the film "was forecasted to be one of A24's highest openings in the high teens to $20M range." It's estimated that the project will see a loss in the $10M-$15M range.

The Smashing Machine is regarded as Johnson's most in-depth role of his acting career, so fans who skipped the movie could be missing out on quite the performance.