Now, I never grew up with wrestling, so I was never really a fan of it. Though I did glean some of the mythology through the SMACKDOWN games, since I loved creating my own characters (like Mario and The Master from MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE) and having them duke it out. Though I get the appeal. It's classic good vs. evil stuff, within the confines of an over-the-top melodrama. It's basically real-life superheroes. Even if it's not my thing, I can see why it's popular.
So it's no surprise that the proprietor of WWE (formerly WWF) Vince McMahon is getting his own biopic called PANDEMONIUM. It seems Sony Pictures' Tri-Star is collaborating with WWE Studios to get the film made. And here's the official synopsis, according to Deadline:
The film covers McMahon’s ascension in the wrestling business, and having WWE Studios involved indicates the project has the blessing of the grappling magnate. He is third generation — the business was started by his grandfather Jess and taken over by his father Vincent — but these were local circuits and relatively small time compared to what Vince McMahon had in mind. The barrel-chested showman turned the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) into a global roadshow business juggernaut. He unleashed grapplers from Hulk Hogan to Bruno Sammartino and Triple H to budding actor John Cena and The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, Hollywood’s reigning action star. McMahon built his ring empire in Stamford, CT, and McMahon, who long had dreams of being a wrestling star, realized that dream as well and became WWF champ in 1999, as well as the ECW champion and winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble.
I'm actually a little iffy about the fact that this has approval of McMahon and WWE (meaning it might play softball with some juicy details), but that isn't necessarily a detriment. I mean, I enjoyed SAVING MR. BANKS – even being aware of its playing fast-and-(very) loose with the facts and the borderline hagiography of Disney – so there's a possibility that won't be the end of the world for this biopic either. I imagine there are still a lot of fun stories about the early days of the WWF/WWE to mine, so I'm intrigued regardless.
So what about you guys who are actually pro-wrestling fans? Does this sound interesting to you? And if so, who would you cast in the roles?