World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) the biggest wrestling company in the U.S. has made a deal with Lionsgate to produce six films together. If that makes you think we’ll be getting harrowing biopics about the lives of wrestlers, a la Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, then you probably aren’t familiar with WWE’s film catalogue. While the films do often feature performers from WWE’s talent roster, they usually stick to the horror (See No Evil, Oculus) and action (The Condemned, the Marine series) with occasional jaunts into comedy (Knucklehead, The Chaperone).
This isn’t the first time WWE Studios (the company’s film division) and Lionsgate have teamed up. In 2006, a partnership resulted in See No Evil, a slasher flick featuring wrestler Glenn Jacobs, aka Kane as the film’s killer. Kane returned in the recently finished, yet to be released sequel, See No Evil 2, but the original’s director, Gregory Dark was replaced by sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary).
According to Deadline, one of the films planned as part of the deal is a thriller called Vendetta. The Soskas are again working with WWE and Lionsgate to direct the film, and wrestler Paul White aka Big Show (Knucklehead) is set to star.
The other five films haven’t been announced yet, but keep an eye out. Who knows? We may discover the next Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock.