Ryan Bader is placing his preventing profession on maintain for just a few months after touchdown a job in The Smashing Machine, the upcoming biopic on UFC and PRIDE veteran Mark Kerr that additionally stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
On Saturday, the previous Bellator heavyweight champion revealed that he was solid within the movie, with manufacturing primarily happening in Vancouver. There’s no phrase but on Bader’s position, though a three-month stint appears to point that he’ll have a featured position within the movie, which is being directed by Benny Safdie with unbiased studio A24 producing.
“Placing the MMA recreation on pause for a bit as I head to Vancouver for about three months,” Bader wrote on Instagram. “Excited to be part of an incredible undertaking by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine. Giving ode to a few legends of the game, Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman. The highs and the lows that include this loopy ass sport.”
Bader joins a solid additionally anticipated to incorporate current Oscar nominee Emily Blunt, who’s rumored to play Kerr’s longtime girlfriend Daybreak Staples.
Primarily based on the 2002 documentary of the identical identify, The Smashing Machine takes a deep dive into the peaks and valleys all through Kerr’s profession. Kerr was as soon as hailed as the way forward for the game, however accidents and habit to ache medicine led to his downfall.
The documentary follows Kerr primarily throughout his time with PRIDE, the place he tried to make a comeback, but it surely’s in the end Coleman who revives his personal profession with a surprising victory within the first-ever PRIDE Grand Prix match.
The Smashing Machine has been a ardour undertaking for Johnson for the previous few years, because the WWE famous person turned actor remained adamant about getting the movie performed after gaining the rights to the story. For the previous couple of weeks, Johnson has been coaching at MMA gyms, together with Black Home, to get himself able to painting Kerr within the upcoming movie.
As for Bader, the 40-year-old UFC and Bellator veteran most lately fought in February, struggling a knockout loss to Renan Ferreira on the PFL vs. Bellator card in Saudi Arabia. Previous to that setback, Bader rattled off three wins in a row, together with a second victory over legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.
Bader now joins Johnson on the solid with no launch date set fairly but for the movie, though it’s anticipated that The Smashing Machine lands in theaters someday in 2025.
