The Rock to be honored at the American Black Film Festival

The Rock set to receive a special honor at the American Black Film Festival next year.

Starting his career as a pro-wrestler, Dwayne Johnson transitioned from WWE to Hollywood and has now been a part of the industry for over two decades. Celebrating his success and contribution to the industry, The Rock is now set to be honored at the 8th American Black Film Festival in February, 2026. According to an exclusive report by Variety, Johnson will receive the 2026 Entertainment Icon Award.

The event is scheduled to take place on February 16th at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills by the Nice Crowd. It’s co-CEOs and presidents Jeff Friday and Nicole Friday, expressed their excitement to present Johnson with the Entertainment Icon Award as a way to celebrate his “incredible contributions to the world of entertainment.”

The Rock never thought about ‘The Smashing Machine’s’ box-office performance

Earlier this year, The Rock starred as Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine’ alongside Emily Blunt. While the film received strong critical acclaim, it underperformed at the box-office.

Despite failing to pass even $20 million mark, The Rock in a podcast with The Hollywood Reporter revealed his motivation for making the film. He said, “Smashing Machine also represents a turning point in my career that I’ve wanted for a long time. For the first time in my career…I made a film to challenge myself and to really rip myself open and to go elsewhere and disappear and transform and not one time did I think about box office.”

Irrespective of the financial outcome, The Rock is again set to team up with Benny Safdie for ‘Lizard Music’.