Ready or Not, WWE Films Are Coming

Posted by: Jerrica

The fact that WWE has a film division is second in comedic value only to the fact that they have just announced plans for their third film even though the first hasn't been released yet. Their first movie, "See No Evil," features WWE superstar Kane. It's a horror thriller about a psycho killer in a hotel, and it's due out on May 19th. Their second movie, "The Marine," stars WWE champion John Cena, and it's scheduled for release on September 8th. Now, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. has its third project in the works, "The Condemned," starring Stone Cold Steve Austin.

This latest WWE venture into the world of filmmaking is about a death row inmate who is sold to a television producer, placed on an island with other condemned convicts, and forced to fight until there is only the last man left alive. On an interesting note, Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut in the upcoming "X-Men: The Last Stand") is also going to star in "The Condemned." Production gets underway next month on the Gold Coast of Australia. All of this makes WWE film #3 sound pretty ambitious.

The decline in popularity of wrestling in recent years has been the same time that its charismatic megastar, The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson), has been away from his home in the ring and pursuing a career as an actor in Hollywood. With Rocky's big screen lead in "The Scorpion King" earning $164 million worldwide, it's not surprising that the WWE would realize there's profit to be had from turning its wrestling superstars into Hollywood movie stars. So, it would seem that making their own productions would be the way the tide is turning these days. However, what the WWE knows about making wrestling into a soap opera, not to mention world's most loud-mouthed form of sports entertainment, doesn't qualify as credentials for making large scale movies. Kane is a character based on horror, but that doesn't automatically mean he's horror movie material. And, maybe no one's told them, but even The Rock is reaching these days. Despite its dual draw of gamers and wrestling fanatics, "Doom" only took in $55 million worldwide, a meager $28 million of which accounts for its domestic gross, and then, throw into the ring the production cost of approximately $60 million.

Looking at that loss, is it really worth WWE's time and money to be mass-producing movies? Especially when the appeal and success of one of their productions is yet to be determined, it seems like they're rushing down the ramp ready to rumble without even knowing if there's anyone in the seats to enjoy the show. With Vince McMahon pioneering this idea of a wrestling corporation churning out its own movies, we could be looking at another XFL. Remember the XFL? Even if you don't, the fate of this new WWE undertaking remains to be seen, and it's possible that we will be asking if anyone remembers these films in a few years. Then again, some lucky cult following (possibly of notoriously bad films) may just have a new golden goose.