JackFetch Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 World Wrestling Entertainment has renamed its film division WWE Studios as part of a move to expand into the production of scripted series and pics for television. "We're now in filmed entertainment, not just the film business," said WWE Studios prexy Michael Lake. "If we're going to be in this business, we need to be in the business." Company is in production on the Renny Harlin-helmed actioner "12 Rounds," starring wrestler John Cena. Pic bows March 13, with 20th Century Fox distributing through its Fox Atomic label. Movie was shepherded by Lake, who left Village Roadshow late last year to overhaul WWE Films, which had already produced three other pics -- "See No Evil," "The Marine" and "The Condemned" -- that failed to spark with fans or cross over with general auds at the B.O. Lake and former Dimension Films exec Steve Barnett are overseeing several pics in the development pipeline, including the comedy "Suckerpunch," which will star the Big Show (aka Paul Wight). Adam Rifkin ("Underdog") is penning the project that revolves around bare-knuckle fighting. WWE is also a producer on Fox's direct-to-DVD sequel "Behind Enemy Lines 3," which will be released early next year. Ken Anderson, better known as Mr. Kennedy to WWE watchers, co-stars. Company aims to self-finance two films per year budgeted at $10 million-$20 million. Pics will range across all genres but won't go after the hard R rating the WWE sought for its previous releases. It also will produce four to six direct-to-DVD movies per year at up to $5 million each, with one of its first projects set to be a sequel to "The Marine." That pic, which starred Cena, was WWE Films' biggest earner so far. Despite smaller sales numbers for the rest of the biz, DVD is still strong for WWE, with titles selling about 250,000 units per release. "It's still a good opportunity for us," Lake said. In addition to the film projects, WWE also intends to expand into scripted TV -- a move that makes sense for the company given that it already produces five hours per week for U.S. auds and nine hours for international viewers. "The biggest area we're concentrating (on) now is television," Lake said. Company's in talks with a cabler to air a series of made-fors each quarter before pushing them out on DVD. WWE is also developing scripted action hours, half-hour comedies and reality fare that would air in the U.S. but could also travel overseas. "We'll do brand-based entertainment," Lake said. "People come to us expecting action and humor, bigger-than-life characters, outlandish stories." Projects would feature wrestlers who appear in the company's three weekly shows, "Monday Night RAW," on USA; "Friday Night Smackdown," which airs on the CW but will move to MyNetworkTV; and "ECW: A New Breed Unleashed" on Sci Fi Channel. Projects won't necessarily star the WWE athletes but rather feature them in guest roles, as secondary characters or in cameos, as the grapplers already have hectic schedules appearing on three shows per week and live events year round. Instead, projects might star former WWE wrestlers, such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. "Current stars can't be everywhere," Lake said. "The legends are a real asset." WWE also expects its production arm to become a strong revenue-generating asset, and the company will use its marketing muscle to make sure auds know about the projects it produces. Company will promote the film and TV releases across WWE's various media properties, such as the three weekly TV shows, as well as magazines and websites. Projects would also be pushed in front of Fox releases in theaters and on DVDs. http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798923...=1&nid=2562 I can't figure out why they don't push their Divas in movies. All they seem to be interested in is action. They can make a drama or romance movies for half the price. Those movie do well on dvd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annericelover Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Oh boy, so now a whole studio with films that suck. The only films I thought could be watched more than once by me was See No Evil(because of Kane's brutality)and No Holds Barred. But the rest of the films that WWE(or F from the 80's and 90's)just didn't sit right for me. Scorpion King, I believe was produced by WWE, but it was a prequel to The Mummy Returns, so I did like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I can't figure out why they don't push their Divas in movies. All they seem to be interested in is action. They can make a drama or romance movies for half the price. Those movie do well on dvd. The demographics from wrestling wouldn't carry over and the movies, while cheaper to produce, would flop big time. They should definately put the Divas in more movies for the sex factor, but I don't see them moving outside of the action/comedy range, nor should they. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 I can't figure out why they don't push their Divas in movies. All they seem to be interested in is action. They can make a drama or romance movies for half the price. Those movie do well on dvd. The demographics from wrestling wouldn't carry over and the movies, while cheaper to produce, would flop big time. They should definately put the Divas in more movies for the sex factor, but I don't see them moving outside of the action/comedy range, nor should they. And that's exactly why everything they try outside of wrestling fails. They treat it like it's another wrestling event, and go after that one specific demographic. Don't use the movies as an extension of the wrestling shows and the movies will be fine. Treat it as a completely separate entity and it will get more respect. Well, that and better movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 But it's not a seperate thing. The movies are more or less advertisements for RAW, and that will never change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackFetch Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 But it's not a seperate thing. The movies are more or less advertisements for RAW. Which is why they will never have a blockbuster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 This is a company that had the greatest money making storyline of all time drop on their laps, and they botched that too. My expectations were never high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 This is a company that had the greatest money making storyline of all time drop on their laps, and they botched that too. Matt Hardy v Edge, fighting over Lita? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I was more refering to the whole Invasion thing, but that too, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 You're right, Invasion could have made them big money. I was thinking about Matt / Lita / Edge because, well, I like to forget Invasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 The fucked up thing is that they didn't want to bring in all the big expensive names when the thing started, then the Invasion ends and they sign all of those same expensive names anyway. I was pretty much done with mainstream wrestling after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 One problem: movies require people to act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 One problem: movies require people to act. I think we've both seen enough bad horror movies that prove this point false. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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