A24’s upcoming film, The Smashing Machine, closes in on securing an Academy Award nominee to star opposite Dwayne Johnson in the sports drama, with Oppenheimer’s Emily Blunt in negotiations to feature.

According to Deadline, Blunt is in talks to join The Smashing Machine cast to star as Dawn Staples, the wife of mixed martial arts star Mark Kerr, the central character Johnson will play in the movie. In The Smashing Machine, set in the year 2000, Staples tries to establish a stable life with her husband but struggles to find a place in Kerr’s chaotic world as he battles drug addiction and other vices. Staples and Kerr married that year at the height of Kerr’s career and shared a son before they divorced years later.

The Smashing Machine’s development was confirmed by A24 and Johnson last December, with the film examining the life and career of the titular former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star and wrestler as he deals with addiction, love and the pressures of winning. Johnson will also co-produce the film through his Seven Bucks Productions imprint, with Benny Safdie, known for being one-half of the Safdie brothers, helming the project in his solo directorial movie debut.

Johnson has Blunt to thank, in part, for getting The Smashing Machine off the ground. Seven Bucks initially acquired the rights to Kerr’s story in 2019 before the pandemic halted the project. However, subsequent conversations with Blunt, whom Johnson featured alongside in the 2021 Disney film, Jungle Cruise, persuaded him to persist with The Smashing Machine and get development going.

Emily Blunt Drew High Praise for Oppenheimer

Blunt is coming off an Academy Award-nominated showing in Oppenheimer, which sees her star as the eponymous theoretical physicist’s wife, Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. Her feature in Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller, the highest-grossing biopic ever made, earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod and a Golden Globe nomination. Blunt has since featured in the Netflix drama, Pain Hustlers, and will play the first female detective in the U.S., Kate Warne, in an upcoming, yet-to-be-titled Amazon Studios film.

Meanwhile, Blunt and Johnson are set to co-star in the upcoming Jungle Cruise sequel, which is currently in development. Johnson’s busy schedule includes the development of his upcoming Moana live-action pic and the release of the Moana animated sequel on Nov. 27. Furthermore, Johnson is set to film an upcoming Fast & Furious spinoff based on his lawman character in the franchise, Luke Hobbs, which will be set between Fast X and Fast & Furious 11.

No release window has been announced for The Smashing Machine. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer is available on digital and home video.