The Rock is, unfortunately, facing some really bad news. The star, who did not return to WWE earlier this year for WrestleMania, will likely be disappointed by recent developments.
Over the weekend, The Rock’s latest movie, *The Smashing Machine*, was released. This is a project the star is very proud of and has worked hard on. In fact, its screening at the Venice Film Festival received a standing ovation, signaling strong critical support.
However, it seems that fans haven’t responded as positively in theaters. The domestic box office numbers for the opening weekend have been released, and *The Smashing Machine* has only scored $6 million. This marks the lowest box office opening ever for any film featuring The Rock.
For comparison, the last time one of his films opened with relatively low numbers was back in 2010 with *Faster*, which had an $8.5 million opening. This weekend, The Rock was decisively outperformed by Taylor Swift’s *Showgirl* release event for her album *The Life of a Showgirl*, which has already earned $33 million during its opening weekend.
Videos are circulating online showing fans singing along to Swift’s latest release in theaters. Her movie features behind-the-scenes footage, lyric videos, and the premiere of her new music video, *The Fate of Ophelia*.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how The Rock will react to this news.
In other WWE-related updates, The Rock stepped away from WWE and did not appear at WrestleMania. Earlier this year, he had returned to WWE before WrestleMania to claim Cody Rhodes’ soul, triggering what many believed would be one of the most iconic heel turns of all time. John Cena turned heel on Rhodes and sided with The Rock after the WWE Champion refused the offer. The Brahma Bull helped beat down Rhodes.
Fans expected that with Cena facing him, The Rock would return at WrestleMania to support The Leader of the Cenation. However, he was nowhere to be seen and later stated that his role was complete, leaving many fans upset.
As The Rock navigates these challenges, both in his film career and WWE involvement, audiences will be watching closely to see what comes next.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/news-bad-news-for-the-rock-after-taylor-swift-s-success