The Iron Claw

[The Reverend]

Haven't seen any posts about this on here yet, so thought I'd start one. The Iron Claw about the infamous Von Erich family is filming now for release next year. 

Director Sean Durkin is a relative newbie, but his previous work has been fairly well received and there's a few biggish names appearing: Zac Effron and Lily James for example. We may see a number of wrestling names in it too with MJF announced yesterday as fake Von Erich, Lance.

So what do we think? Biopics have been money makers in the last few years with 'Bo Rhap', 'Elvis' and 'Rocket Man' all doing big box office. Wrestling films are always a tough one, as there has to be enough away from the sport to feature, otherwise you may as well just stick wrestling on. The Von Erichs certainly have a compelling off-screen story (someone send the director the notorious 'sleaze-list') and Hollywood loves a bit of tragedy.

Maybe this could be like Mickey Rourke starring The Wrestler and will hopefully give wrestling a bit of a mainstream and positive spin.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Claw_(film)

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/zac-efron-the-iron-claw-a24-first-look-1235425761/

Edited November 10, 2022 by The Reverend

[Hannibal Scorch]

8 minutes ago, The Reverend said:

Haven't seen any posts about this on here yet, so thought I'd start one. The Iron Claw about the infamous Von Erich family is filming now for release next year. 

Director Sean Durkin is a relative newbie, but his previous work has been fairly well received and there's a few biggish names appearing: Zac Effron and Lily James for example. We may see a number of wrestling names in it too with MJF announced yesterday as fake Von Erich, Lance.

So what do we think? Biopics have been money makers in the last few years with 'Bo Rhap', 'Elvis' and 'Rocket Man' all doing big box office. Wrestling films are always a tough one, as there has to be enough away from the sport to feature, otherwise you may as well just stick wrestling on. The Von Erichs certainly have a compelling off-screen story (someone send the director the notorious 'sleaze-list') and Hollywood loves a bit of tragedy.

Maybe this could be like Mickey Rourke starring The Wrestler and will hopefully give wrestling a bit of a mainstream and positive spin.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Claw_(film)

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/zac-efron-the-iron-claw-a24-first-look-1235425761/

I can't see how any film about the Von Erichs in the 80's is going to have a positive spin on Wrestling on the mainstream public. The opposite if anything. Hopefully it will be, like The Wrestler, well made and well regarded. But as an A24 film it's going to have a niche release. Can't see it blowing up like Everything Everywhere All At Once did for them.

Edited November 10, 2022 by Hannibal Scorch

[Devon Malcolm]

12 minutes ago, The Reverend said:

So what do we think? Biopics have been money makers in the last few years with 'Bo Rhap', 'Elvis' and 'Rocket Man' all doing big box office.

All being shit, as well.

Sean Durkin's two films so far, The Nest and especially Martha Marcy May Marlene, have both been excellent though so there's a pretty good chance this won't be shit.

[theringmaster]

This is a real odd one for me. I'm a huge fan of Von Erichs and WCCW in general but I just don't see how this film will be able to be anything but a really depressing watch. I get the feeling it will be like the recent Elvis flick in that it skims over so much with so little context. 

Also, when will it end? In my head the story kind of ends with Texas Tornado but i can imagine wwe slamming a huge lawsuit on them if they try and show that

[WyattSheepMask]

Bohemian Rhapsody did big box office because it was about an icon that people care about. Although a much better film, Rocketman didn’t perform anywhere near as well ($200million worldwide) and I think Elvis ($286million worldwide) performed worse than projected.

It might end up being a decent quality film, but this has got box office flop written all over it

[BomberPat]

I'm fascinated by this one, because it just doesn't have the narrative arc you'd expect of a Hollywood biopic - it ends with the (presumably) main character the only one left in his family, but without a happy ending or all that much to show for it. I don't think "he's living in Hawaii now" is going to be a satisfying bit of closure after all the horrible shit that precedes it. The fact that Lance Von Erich is part of the story suggests that there's not a lot they're glossing over, either. 

I'd be curious to know to what extent the surviving family have been involved, and how that plays into the portrayal of Fritz. For years there was always talk of "The Von Erich Curse", as if these poor lads were afflicted by powers beyond their understanding, or some divine judgement, rather than a lot of what befell them being the fault of an abusive, overbearing and manipulative father. If it ends up the story of the ultimate stage parents, that's a story that has reach beyond just wrestling, but are they going to write that story if they've got Kevin and his family on board?

It's going to be a fascinating thing to see the reviews and general audience feedback - it's going to go viral based on "look at Zac Efron's stupid hair", then the people who watch it for a laugh are going to have to sit through a painstakingly recreated post-toxic shock Mike Von Erich promo.

[Devon Malcolm]

1 hour ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Bohemian Rhapsody did big box office because it was about an icon that people care about. Although a much better film, Rocketman didn’t perform anywhere near as well ($200million worldwide) and I think Elvis ($286million worldwide) performed worse than projected.

It might end up being a decent quality film, but this has got box office flop written all over it

Rocketman made back its budget 5 times over. Elvis over-performed on projections. A24 are known for low budget productions so a flop is highly unlikely unless literally nobody goes. You've had a plopper, here.

[BrodyGraham]

Every time I see the cast of this film, I think, 'Really, them?'. Apart from the grizzled bloke from Mindhunter as Fritz. That's excellent stuff. But the guy playing David is a willowy young English guy and the dude from The Bear is playing Kerry. I imagine they'll act the shit out of this but my I'm gonna struggle with suspending my disbelief.

That said, I imagine it'll be well made, if not hideously depressing.