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Post by Vegas on Dec 3, 2011 17:52:28 GMT -5
The final days of Chris Benoit will be re-told in a new big screen 'biographical thriller', entitled Crossface.
SRG Films have bought the rights to Matthew Randazzo's book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry, to retell the wrestler's story, whose career and life ended in a double murder–suicide.
Sarah Coulter has already written the first draft of the script, which is expected to begin filming late next year. Talks are underway with potential actors and directors and the film already has an IMDB page.
Coulter says, "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."
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Post by Justin Case on Dec 3, 2011 19:44:04 GMT -5
Coulter has a point there. I'm very interested in this, so will keep my eyes peeled for it when it's released! I really enjoy movies based on real stories.
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Post by Bazzy on Dec 4, 2011 0:08:31 GMT -5
ut how the hell , does anyone REALLY know what happened in them finally hours ? .
Bet Vince aint happy about this ?
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Post by LWPD on Dec 4, 2011 16:21:43 GMT -5
The final days of Chris Benoit will be re-told in a new big screen 'biographical thriller', entitled Crossface.
SRG Films have bought the rights to Matthew Randazzo's book Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry, to retell the wrestler's story, whose career and life ended in a double murder–suicide.
Sarah Coulter has already written the first draft of the script, which is expected to begin filming late next year. Talks are underway with potential actors and directors and the film already has an IMDB page.
Coulter says, "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."
Thanks for the heads up Mr. Vegas. I remember Ring of Hell from a few years back. Randazzo's work was unique in contrast to most books that cover pro wrestling figures as it was geared toward a target audience that has an interest in criminology. The focus was on delving into the background of a criminal who took the life of his wife and infant son, and then killed himself. There was no idolatry in his approach. Without apology, the book was highly critical of the pro wrestling industry and those who support it. While at times a tone of sensationalism and hyperbole took away from the points the author was trying to make, all told his work was an insightful, cogent narrative. A sobering but worthwhile read for those interested in the topic. If the movie is scripted to play to the book's strengths, it could make for a compelling human interest story. If any good could come from bringing about increased public awareness of the issues touched upon (ie. the debilitating mental effects of repeat concussions, the risks of cocktailing drug addictions, etc) than all the better. Hopefully SRG Films will surprise to the upside. |
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Post by marktaggart on Dec 5, 2011 9:10:05 GMT -5
There was no idolatry in his approach. Without apology, the book was highly critical of the pro wrestling industry and those who support it. While at times a tone of sensationalism and hyperbole took away from the points the author was trying to make, all told his work was an insightful, cogent narrative. I would respectfully question the writer's insight. The writer was a complete outsider coming from an outside perspective about a business he had only begun to research when he decided to write the book. Seeing as how the incident in question occurred in 2007 and the book was released in 2008, I'm not certain how much "insight" one can glean from this story. Certainly he weaves a cogent narrative, but it is mainly regurgitation of second hand information and the "same old stuff" that gets bandied about every time an idiot who also happens to be a wrestler does something stupid or kills themselves. The writer DOES have a great knack for writing as if he has insight and knowledge though, so it does come across that way. All of the "issues" raised are purely speculative as it relates to this case. [/b][/quote] Steroids? Why's it always start there? There's not one shred of evidence to support that as a contributing factor here or any of a number of cases where it has been alleged. I point to this link of the story from Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel for perhaps the only unbiased, non-agenda driven report on the issue: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5iWE3GSYEAll of these perceived issues were "brought to light" ad nauseum in 2007. The vultures can hide behind "making people aware of the issues" or this being a "cautionary tale" but its just picking over the bones to see if another buck can be made, as far as I'm concerned. Bottom line, bazzy's right in writing that no one knows for sure what happened in those final hours or what drove this guy over the edge. He was a troubled guy and may have snapped no matter if he was a wrestler or a plumber. I say let him be relegated to the history books and let people like this quit trying to turn a buck off of someone's tragedy. |
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Post by swarm on Dec 5, 2011 15:26:47 GMT -5
Hundreds of thousands of pro bodybuilders have been loading themselves with levels of steroids never even approached in the history of pro wrestling for decades, and none of them ever killed their families.
And millions of people get severe concussions. They don't kill their families either.
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Post by Justin Case on Dec 5, 2011 18:44:45 GMT -5
true, everybody's body chemistry is different. How much chemicals an individual will pump themselves with will effect each individual differently. Apparently, Benoit's chemical imbalance was just enough along with his concussions, stress level, etc... And the end result as catastrophic to say the least.
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Post by LWPD on Dec 5, 2011 19:15:57 GMT -5
There was no idolatry in his approach. Without apology, the book was highly critical of the pro wrestling industry and those who support it. While at times a tone of sensationalism and hyperbole took away from the points the author was trying to make, all told his work was an insightful, cogent narrative. I would respectfully question the writer's insight. The writer was a complete outsider coming from an outside perspective about a business he had only begun to research when he decided to write the book. Seeing as how the incident in question occurred in 2007 and the book was released in 2008, I'm not certain how much "insight" one can glean from this story. Certainly he weaves a cogent narrative, but it is mainly regurgitation of second hand information and the "same old stuff" that gets bandied about every time an idiot who also happens to be a wrestler does something stupid or kills themselves. The writer DOES have a great knack for writing as if he has insight and knowledge though, so it does come across that way. It's fair to question the quality of insight the author provides, but your comments on his background don't square with the facts. Matthew Randazzo has been an inside source for the Wrestling Observer going back at least a decade. Dave Meltzer himself readily admits this. Of his older work, I primarily know him from covering the puroresu scene (with Zach Arnold). For whatever its worth, he's been around wrestling journalism circles far predating the Chris Benoit incident. All of the "issues" raised are purely speculative as it relates to this case. The issues of Benoit suffering repeat concussions and cocktailing a variety of drugs aren't speculative, they are factual. If the movie touches upon the health consequences of those issues, without drawing unsupportable inferences, I wouldn't view it as a negative. For those interested, at the time of controversy (circa '08) the Wrestling Observer provided Matthew Randazzo with a forum to rebuttal a review of Ring of Hell by Dave Meltzer. While controversial, Ring of Hell did make for a good (but not feel good) read. If you check the reviews on Amazon, reactions (pro and con) tend to be emotional: Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry
By Matthew Randazzo V |
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Post by marktaggart on Dec 5, 2011 19:40:50 GMT -5
It's fair to question the quality of insight the author provides, but your comments on his background don't square with the facts. Matthew Randazzo has been an inside source for the Wrestling Observer going back at least a decade. Dave Meltzer himself readily admits this. Meltzer isn't the "insider" he believes himself to be either, but that's another issue for another thread. If he goes back at least a decade with the Observer Meltzer has been using teenage kids as "inside sources" because the guy is currently 27. I'll give you that he has watched wrestling from an outsider perspective, but that does not give him anything resembling insight, in my opion. All of the "issues" raised are purely speculative as it relates to this case."As it relates to this case" would be the key phrase here. We know what his problems were, but as Swarm wrote earlier, plenty of others have had the same issues and have not committed murder/suicide. The book, and the movie forthcoming, are nothing but shameless exploitation. The murder's name will not be uttered or written by me and neither will the names of those wishing to profit from his act. That is my unmovable bottom line on the issue. EDIT: waitaminute, I just did some more research and learned this "insider" is a writer for the world famous Power Slam magazine out of the UK. Well, I'm sold on him (where's that real sarcastic smiley when I need it). Admittedly, I originally had him confused with one of the other nitwits who chose to write a quick book and profit off of the incident, but now that I look him up this guy's pedigree may be one notch higher at best. I point you to a thread on a message board where some of this writer's work as an "insider" is detailed. It seems like he'll take any utter drivel "unnamed former WWE writer" sources give him and run with it like it's fact---as long as it makes the WWE look like it's an out of control madhouse (so I can see why Meltzer likes him, although I'm sure this guy has mastered spell check and Meltzer never seems to have done so). www.wrestlingforum.com/general-wwe/549159-ten-horror-stories-wwe-creative.html |
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Post by floydthebarber on Dec 5, 2011 20:36:08 GMT -5
I understand the anger, bitterness and lack of sympathy for Benoit and the ‘steroid/concussion’ question that has surfaced since that day that some seem to have. As someone who was a huge Chris Benoit fan, I was devastated by what happened. There is no excuse for what Benoit did. It was terrible, and no amount of rationale can make it ‘understandable’…so anyone trying to do that, or motivated to do that by making this movie is wrong in doing so.
However, the question of ‘how did this happen’ can still be asked, and maybe should be asked, and all the possible variables need to be looked at.
I think the reason why there is such a divide on this issue is because of how Benoit seemed to be one of the ‘good guys’ of the industry…the little guy who made it big…the technical mat wizard in an age of bulked up bodybuilders and personalities…and what he did seems so far from who his fans thought he was. A lot of us have a hard time believing that Benoit was always an evil guy who finally crossed the line and murdered his wife and kid, and want there to be some ‘other’ explanation. I highly doubt a B movie staring some C list actor will do that…actually I know it won’t…so I’d rather it not get made. But I do think the dialogue about Chris and this case shouldn’t be just ‘a lot of people take steroids and don’t kill their families…end of story’. That’s just sticking to your guns and shoving your head in the sand…fine for you, but maybe the rest of us don't see it as black & white.
I still admire and respect what Chris Benoit the wrestler accomplished in his career…that shouldn’t make me some kind of monster. I’m certainly not about to defend him or try and excuse what he did because he took too many steroids and had one too many concussions…but after all this time, this case still doesn’t make any sense to me…and probably never will. O.J. Simpson is still regarded as one of the all-time great running backs ever, and the fact that he killed his wife and her boyfriend, and held a bunch of card collectors hostage in a hotel room years later doesn’t change that. I’m sure there are fan’s of O.J. who simply can’t believe that their hero is/was responsible for that terrible crime…just like fans of Benoit can’t believe their hero was ‘thinking clearly’ or ‘was himself’ when he did what he did.
I’m willing to admit I’m wrong on this…but I think there’s merit in the debate.
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