CROSSFACE; A film about the Chris Benoit murder suicide in the works

Yeah, this is some what fucked.

Normally, I’d be posting news like this over at Panzercrush.  But seeing that this film is aiming at mainstream appeal, I’m posting the news here.

The production company, SRG is planning on making  a “biographical thriller” about the murder/suicide of Chris Benoit.  For those who lived under a rock in 2007, Chris Benoit, considered one of the all time greats in pro wrestling, was found dead in his Atlanta home along with his wife and son.  After a day of investigation, it turned out that Benoit had killed his wife and son, and then hung himself.  It shined a bad light on WWE and wrestling in general for a while.  It also became fodder for every talk show that blamed drugs and steroids on Benoit‘s actions.

Well, seeing as the it was a sensationalized story, it’s only taken about.. oh, 4 and a half years for someone to jump on it to turn it into a film.  SRG Films has aquired the rights to the book: RING OF HELL, that “told” the account of the Benoit tragedy and the backstage dealings of pro wrestling.

Here’s the press release from SRG Films about the project:

“Crossface”, a biographical thriller, delves into the pressures WWE superstar Chris Benoit faced throughout his wrestling career as the combination of drug-use, depression, and head trauma became increasingly impossible for him to handle. The true story made headline news in 2007 when Chris murdered his wife and young son before taking his own life.

SRG Films head Dale Alexander Carnegie is producing the film, while William Morris Endeavor (WME) is on board to package the project. Former Weinstein Company staffer, Sarah Coulter, turned in the first draft of the script in mid-October.

“All of us grow up believing that wrestling is fake, but looking at the shocking number of deaths in the industry, it quickly becomes evident that there is nothing fake about the dangers of this sport,” Carnegie said. “Chris Benoit has become a poster child for everything that’s wrong with professional wrestling and Sarah’s terrific script captures his struggles and the many factors that led to the deaths of three people.”

Coulter added: “People immediately point to steroids, never thinking about the brain trauma these wrestlers can, and do, incur in their profession, nor do they consider the rigorous schedule that keeps them working even when they shouldn t be. The Benoit story is one that needs to be brought into the light.:

SRG Films, currently in talks with directors and actors, plans to begin filming in the fall of 2012.

Look, my main grip with this project is that it’s most definitely going to be trashy.  The book, Ring of Hell, in which this is going to be based on, was written by Matthew Randazzo, was written almost imedi8atly after Benoit‘s death and put on shelves almost less than a year after the events.  Many wrestling fans and wrestlers themselves have come out to completely bash the book for over sensationalizing the backstage life of wrestlers, the business, and just plain getting basic facts about stuff wrong in the book.  People who clearly had  no idea about the politics of wrestling found it engaging.  So take that for what it’s worth.

I guess this will be one of those projects that going to happen if people like it or not.  Benoit was friends and worked with A LOT of  people, most of them still alive today.  I forcess many of these people throwing a huge fit over this project, and will probably try to stop it.  We shall see though.

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