It’s been a long time coming, but the planned biopic revolving around the death of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit is finally moving forward with Punisher: War Zone and Arrow director Lexi Alexander at the helm. Titled Crossface, the movie is based on the book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry by Matthew Randazzo V.
One of the biggest stars in WWE at the time of his death in 2007, Benoit has since became best known not for his work in the ring, but because he murdered his wife and son before committing suicide. He was later posthumously diagnosed with CTE, a type of brain degeneration caused by multiple concussions which some doctors argued could have played a role in his actions.
In a recent press release, Alexander had this to say about taking the helm of Crossface (which is named after his finishing movie, the Crippler Crossface).
“I was pretty certain I’d stay in TV rather than returning to the feature world, because the material just seems so much better in TV, especially in drama, but then ‘Crossface’ came my way. A heartbreaking, true story about the dark side of wrestling… I couldn’t say no to that.”
The script was written by Jake Goldberger and Sarah Coulter, and while Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber was at one point rumoured to star, that’s no longer thought to be the case.
It’s highly unlikely that the WWE will give the makers of Crossface permission to use any of their copyrighted material in the movie, so how exactly it will get around that is hard to say. Either way, the fact that the project is finally moving forward is definitely good news, especially as Crossface will shed some light on a fascinating and tragic real life story.
