Why WWE films will probably succeed

[Joe Kerr]

There you have it. The title says it all. I know that there has been much talk and a wringing of hands at the thought of WWE going forward with another non-wrestling venture (please see the XFL and WBF as examples of what not to do) and even more wringing of hands and flailing of arms that workers will be playing characters. For example, some mention has been made that John Cena is just not believable as a Marine, or Kane has no place in a horror picture. In my honest opinion, these naysayers couldn’t be more wrong. Wrestling industry insiders see this move as unfeasible, I believe, due to the fact that wrestling is on a downturn, or it isn’t the type of thing they would want to see from wrestlers. Luckily, WWE probably isn’t depending on the wrestling fan for most of its film revenue.


To begin with, all the pictures chosen are genre pictures (i.e. Films that fit into nice rows in designated areas at Blockbuster). The best part about genre films is that there is a built in audience that will rent or buy EVERYTHING. As fanatical as we are about getting every PPV on DVD, horror fans, for example, will rent or buy every horror release that comes out. Certainly, a small majority of those sales or rentals will be because Kane was in the movie, but a majority of them will be made because it is a HORROR movie that happens to have Kane in it. Genre is a good business choice. 80% of your sales come from the box art and description anyway and we know that WWE has a crack staff of designers. The same theory holds true for Action, Westerns, Sci-Fi, etc. When the multi-billion dollar blockbusters have been rented, get that thing with the wrestler and let’s see some explosions!

Secondly, using John Cena as a Marine, for example, is good business. Yep, he is an entertaining wrestler. Yep, he has a great physique. Can he act? Maybe, but we don’t care. If that were the case, huge action stars like Chuck Norris would never have made a film. Again, people will rent it to see Cena, but more people will rent it to see a good looking Marine, with a good body kill some bad guys. Please see the collected works of Brian Bosworth (don’t laugh, his movies made a TON of money) for more information.

Lastly, theatrical release is not where the money is at. Not by a long shot. Home video and international territories is where WWE will make the most. A theatrical release, limited of course, will more than likely make the budget of the film back (if they keep in the 800K to 3M range). The real gravy comes from Home Video. The first round of home video goes to rental (Blockbuster, Hollywood, Movie Gallery, etc.) and will go on every one of those establishments, at least one copy deep. Roughly six months after that, the price is reduced and copies go to sell through (Best Buy, Fry’s, Grocery Stores, etc., etc.). What you lose in per unit revenue you more than make up for in volume. Finally, international territories are sold. These are a goldmine, and all you provide is a master and artwork. Let’s say WWE sells Japan to Cena is a Marine. Japan buys home video and TV rights for 7 years (usually at a huge sum). WWE delivers one master of the film and artwork and washes the old corporate hands for 7 years. At that point, they can re-sell the rights to any other company in Japan willing to pay for it.

WWE Films looks like a good business venture to me. Just as long as Lex Luger isn’t the front man.

[KingofOldSchool]

If these movies are written by anyone remotely involved with the booking team, then it will fail.

Wait.

It'll fail no matter what.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by KingofOldSchool If these movies are written by anyone remotely involved with the booking team, then it will fail. Wait. It'll fail no matter what.

Can't argue there.

In fact, anyone with a clue would pass on WE films and go for a real production house.

[Kane Knight]

IU also think we should shank whoever came up with theidea.

Originally Posted by KingofOldSchool If these movies are written by anyone remotely involved with the booking team, then it will fail. Wait. It'll fail no matter what.

Pretty much. I mean the WWE can only rely on their established audience and a few people watching purely out of interest. Other than that, who is gonna watch the movie? Even then, their established audience hardly tunes in half the time.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Funky Fly Pretty much. I mean the WWE can only rely on their established audience and a few people watching purely out of interest. Other than that, who is gonna watch the movie? Even then, their established audience hardly tunes in half the time.

Yeah, they've pissed on their loyal fanbase time after time, yet they'll be the only ones who give it a shot.

Half the people will come into the theaters during the last quarter of the movie and the other half will read spoilers and skip it altogether.

[Kane Knight]

LOL

Let's not forget the dirt sheets.

Originally Posted by Kane Knight LOL Let's not forget the dirt sheets.

Yeah, IMDB gives out too many insider secrets.

[Kane Knight]

Rick flair's start yelling at people for using insider terms like "box office," "protagonists," and "script.

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Rick flair's start yelling at people for using insider terms like "box office," "protagonists," and "script.

Oh heavens. This will send Flair into total shock. He might have another on-air heart attack. Wait...don't we want that?

[Kane Knight]

I don't know about WANT, but....

[mitch_h]

Blah no way... this is just going to be another reason to be embarassed that you're a WWE fan.

[Lara Emily]

LOL. People who like Horror don't rent every single horror movie that gets released. I'd imagine even they'd look at it saying WWE Films and be less inclined to see it.

Vince McMahon has shown time and time again that anything he does outside of wrestling sucks and fails. He knows (well used to know is more approriate) wrestling and that's it.

[The CyNick]

If it was that easy to make money in movies, I would make a movie every day of the week. By the logic presented in the first post, I'd be guaranteed to make money, so why stop at one, why not make a million?

I cant say forsure that this is a money losing venture, because they have at least been smart and limited spending to $15-20 million for each project. But at the same time, I cant see it making a ton of money or even breaking even for that matter? For the simple reason that A) it will look cheesy compared to most movies due to the low budget, then B) its going to be produced by WWE and therefore will have no credibility among the average movie goer and C) with the limited budget they will get killed in terms of advertising because most major films spend tens of millions of dollars to promote their films.

The only hope the WWE has for this to work is if most if not all of their fanbase goes out to see the movie. On avergae they have about 4.5-5 million viewers per show, if say half those people buy tickets that might be enough to break even right there. But I'm not so sure that many people will go out and pay to see the movie.

I do agree they will make most of their money off DVD sales, because even if they only sell a couple hundred thousand copies (which is no guarantee) they will be among the top selling DVDs. But will that alone be enough to recoup their losses? I doubt it.

It just seems like another case of Vince having $75 million buring a hole in his pocket and he has to get rid of it.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Lara Emily LOL. People who like Horror don't rent every single horror movie that gets released. I'd imagine even they'd look at it saying WWE Films and be less inclined to see it. Vince McMahon has shown time and time again that anything he does outside of wrestling sucks and fails. He knows (well used to know is more approriate) wrestling and that's it.

To be fair, fans of genres are idiots. There are fans of the horror genre, whose primary thought process is "is it a horror flick?"

There's a reason there have only been four plots in horror in the last 20 years, and nobody's been bright enough to notice.

Same goes for romantic comedies.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by The CyNick If it was that easy to make money in movies, I would make a movie every day of the week. By the logic presented in the first post, I'd be guaranteed to make money, so why stop at one, why not make a million? I cant say forsure that this is a money losing venture, because they have at least been smart and limited spending to $15-20 million for each project. But at the same time, I cant see it making a ton of money or even breaking even for that matter? For the simple reason that A) it will look cheesy compared to most movies due to the low budget, then B) its going to be produced by WWE and therefore will have no credibility among the average movie goer and C) with the limited budget they will get killed in terms of advertising because most major films spend tens of millions of dollars to promote their films. The only hope the WWE has for this to work is if most if not all of their fanbase goes out to see the movie. On avergae they have about 4.5-5 million viewers per show, if say half those people buy tickets that might be enough to break even right there. But I'm not so sure that many people will go out and pay to see the movie. I do agree they will make most of their money off DVD sales, because even if they only sell a couple hundred thousand copies (which is no guarantee) they will be among the top selling DVDs. But will that alone be enough to recoup their losses? I doubt it. It just seems like another case of Vince having $75 million buring a hole in his pocket and he has to get rid of it.

DVDs aren't exactly the cheapest medium to make money off of right now, either.

But yeah. This man knows his shit.

[Lara Emily]

Originally Posted by Kane Knight To be fair, fans of genres are idiots. There are fans of the horror genre, whose primary thought process is "is it a horror flick?" There's a reason there have only been four plots in horror in the last 20 years, and nobody's been bright enough to notice. Same goes for romantic comedies.

Yes true but that's a very small portion, and not enough to make a profitable movie.

[Kane Knight]

Which is why B-Movies don't make it out, much less to the shelves.

So the WWE is thinking about making a navy movie with John Cena.

...

And they are also thinking about making a horror film starring Kane.

Because we all know Kane is diverse as an actor.

[Head]

Personally, I'm looking foward to WWE Films.

It's always fun to see Vince step out of his sphere, make a complete ass of himsefl, and burn $50 million.

Seriously, if they're so intent on making movies, they should be making comedies, not horror flicks. At least a comedy doesn't have to be seen as "credible" as much as other movies do for people to go out and see it.

Either way, I know I won't be wasting a cent on whatever it is they put out.

[The Tool]

If the movies are good they may succeed. If they are gonna rely on people watching them because they have wrestlers acting in them, well then they will bomb big time.

[Lara Emily]

Originally Posted by Head Personally, I'm looking foward to WWE Films. It's always fun to see Vince step out of his sphere, make a complete ass of himsefl, and burn $50 million. Seriously, if they're so intent on making movies, they should be making comedies, not horror flicks. At least a comedy doesn't have to be seen as "credible" as much as other movies do for people to go out and see it. Either way, I know I won't be wasting a cent on whatever it is they put out.

Well to be fair. Horror movies hardly have the burden of crediblity either.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I agree that both ahve potential to be good, aslong as the film industry is what is in mind during the making of them. Randy Orton would have made a great marine, BTW.

[The Mackem]

If they are good people will watch it. If they are bad people will probably still watch it. I remember the time I watched Street Fighter, oh dear.

[Rob]

Here's why WWE films WILL fail

1 - Vince McMahon is behind it. Everything he does outside of pro wrestling turns to shit. XFL, ICO PRO, WBF, WWF New York, Vegas Casino, promoting boxing, etc.

2 - Low budget films varely rarely make big money. And when they do they are something people haven't seen before.

3 - John Cena is a nobody in the real world and if they had any brains, they would have got The Rock for the first film of their venture.

4 - Wrestling is the bastard son of the entertainment business. Nobody in the real world has any respect for it and they are all usually of the belief that if you are associated with pro wrestling then you are a fake and a joke. WWE films could release the next big independent cult classic and it would still get shit on because it's WWE.

[Jonster]

Originally Posted by The Mackem If they are good people will watch it. If they are bad people will probably still watch it. I remember the time I watched Street Fighter, oh dear.

And what's wrong with Street Fighter, I have it on VHS (It was free though)

[tucsonspeed6]

Originally Posted by The CyNick If it was that easy to make money in movies, I would make a movie every day of the week. By the logic presented in the first post, I'd be guaranteed to make money, so why stop at one, why not make a million? I cant say forsure that this is a money losing venture, because they have at least been smart and limited spending to $15-20 million for each project. But at the same time, I cant see it making a ton of money or even breaking even for that matter? For the simple reason that A) it will look cheesy compared to most movies due to the low budget, then B) its going to be produced by WWE and therefore will have no credibility among the average movie goer and C) with the limited budget they will get killed in terms of advertising because most major films spend tens of millions of dollars to promote their films.

YOu're forgetting one thing: Name recognition. It's the reason why AVP will do so good despite having such a horrible and inaccurate plot (Why they didn't make the movie based on the videogames is beyond me...) People will waste their money on a movie just because they've heard of one of the actors. If everyone was as frugal as one would think, we wouldn't have people talking on their cell phones during movies that are plenty entertaining and get rave reviews.

And most movies pay the WWE to advertise during Raw and Smackdown. In the WWE's case, they'll have four hours a week of airtime to promote their shows for free, so advertising won't be as big of an issue as one would think.

Originally Posted by Kane Knight To be fair, fans of genres are idiots. There are fans of the horror genre, whose primary thought process is "is it a horror flick?" There's a reason there have only been four plots in horror in the last 20 years, and nobody's been bright enough to notice. Same goes for romantic comedies.

I agree to an extent. I happen to be a huge fan of horror movies, but I hate about 9 out of 10 horror movies that come out because they all have the same plot. (Movie begins, a teenage couple is making out/having sex and a scary guy with *insert slasher weapon here* sneaks up and kills them. The rest of the movie is spent with other teenagers having sex while solving the big scooby doo mystery of why the killer guy is killing everyone. One person survives to find out that they didn't kill the bad guy after all and the sequel repeats the process.) But if there's a specific method to these plots that works and sells, wouldn't that mean that a Kane movie with the same plot layout would sell well?

Originally Posted by Head Seriously, if they're so intent on making movies, they should be making comedies, not horror flicks. At least a comedy doesn't have to be seen as "credible" as much as other movies do for people to go out and see it.

A comedy? Seriously, I'd rather watch the John Cena marine movie that takes itself way too seriously than the John Cena movie that uses the word "poop" 600 times.




But really......Why doesn't Vince work more on making his tv shows more entertaining? Why doesn't he work harder on getting money for his pay-per-views? Does he think that wrestling is a sinking ship that he has to abandon immediately? He's tried so many times before to get out of wrestling, one could make an accurate assumption that he doesn't trust us fans or his product. I'm certain that if he were any bit of a businessman, he would stop trying to expand his empire and focus on the crumbling base that his company was founded upon.

[Head]

Originally Posted by tucsonspeed6 A comedy? Seriously, I'd rather watch the John Cena marine movie that takes itself way too seriously than the John Cena movie that uses the word "poop" 600 times.

Well, any movie the WWE puts out will most likely be shit.

I was saying that assuming the movie turned out okay.

[tucsonspeed6]

Speaking of movies, I saw a trailer for Blade 3 last night and HHH was nowhere to be seen in it.

HHH, how big WAS your part in that movie?


HHH: .....oh, about.....


SHUT UP TRIPS!

[James Steele]

Joey Radd Said: Can he act? Maybe, but we don’t care. If that were the case, huge action stars like Chuck Norris would never have made a film.

You asshole! Chuck Norris is the greatest actor of all time.

Just for that i am posting my sig and demanding everyone send me 30 bucks.

[tucsonspeed6]

*Starts writing a check...*

So who should I make this out to......Wait a minute!!! You're trying to trick me, just like that last guy did...."IRS" psh! Just cause you've got three letters in your name doesn't mean you're a hot shot government agency! Look at JBL!

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-You So the WWE is thinking about making a navy movie with John Cena. ... And they are also thinking about making a horror film starring Kane. Because we all know Kane is diverse as an actor.

I'm personally waiting to see him in Streetcar named desire....

"Liiiiitaaaaa...I mean...Steeeeeelllaaaaa... "

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Lara Emily Well to be fair. Horror movies hardly have the burden of crediblity either.

And most people who watch them hardly have any real means of discretion.

Show some tits, some bloody deaths, it doesn't matte if it's Friday the 13th or the latest C-movie.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by tucsonspeed6 YOu're forgetting one thing: Name recognition. It's the reason why AVP will do so good despite having such a horrible and inaccurate plot (Why they didn't make the movie based on the videogames is beyond me...) People will waste their money on a movie just because they've heard of one of the actors. If everyone was as frugal as one would think, we wouldn't have people talking on their cell phones during movies that are plenty entertaining and get rave reviews.

AVP is based off of two top selling movie franchises, and will get a TON of coverage through advertisements in many primetime slots. There's no way free advertising on Raw and Smackdown is going to compete with Summer Blockbuster status.

Not to mention that the primary "name recognition" is the WWE. Low budget films by a group that has no credibility? Not a good thing. That, is a BAD thing.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by The Mackem If they are good people will watch it. If they are bad people will probably still watch it. I remember the time I watched Street Fighter, oh dear.

Street Fighter was big budget, had a huge, mainstream name, and a ton of promotion hype behind it.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Rob Here's why WWE films WILL fail 1 - Vince McMahon is behind it. Everything he does outside of pro wrestling turns to shit. XFL, ICO PRO, WBF, WWF New York, Vegas Casino, promoting boxing, etc. 2 - Low budget films varely rarely make big money. And when they do they are something people haven't seen before. 3 - John Cena is a nobody in the real world and if they had any brains, they would have got The Rock for the first film of their venture. 4 - Wrestling is the bastard son of the entertainment business. Nobody in the real world has any respect for it and they are all usually of the belief that if you are associated with pro wrestling then you are a fake and a joke. WWE films could release the next big independent cult classic and it would still get shit on because it's WWE.

What he said.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by tucsonspeed6 Speaking of movies, I saw a trailer for Blade 3 last night and HHH was nowhere to be seen in it. HHH, how big WAS your part in that movie? HHH: .....oh, about..... SHUT UP TRIPS!

'LMAO

[Rock Bottom]

I am going to kickstart TPWW films.

wrestling_god/eminem/Joey Radd in "Copied and Pasted."