WWE Wrestler Chris Benoit Film Biopic CROSSFACE To Re-Tell Tragedy

By Matt Holmes / December 3, 2011

The tragedy of Chris Benoit's final days are to 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", one of the countless number of books about the pressures the wrestling superstar faced throughout his career and how it was that a quiet family man, who was 100% dedicated to their safety and his ability to be the absolute best in the squared circle, one weekend murdered his wife and young son before hanging himself. Randazoo's book which I haven't read (though I have read others) suggests severe depression caused by head trauma and steroid/drug-use that damaged his brain and had turned him psychotic. SRG chief Dale Alexander Carnegie is producing, WME are packaging the project. I believe but I'm not certain that this might be SRG Films' first production. Former Weinstein staffer Sarah Coulter has already written the first draft of the script which will begin filming late 2012. They are in talks with directors and actors for the project right now and the film already has an IMDB page. The title 'Crossface' was the name of his finishing move in the ring.

"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.:

The tragedy of the Benoit family is the biggest story in the history of wrestling and in the summer of 2007 made headlines globally for weeks on end. For many a wrestling fan at the time, he was the last person and I really do mean the absolute last person you would EVER think would bring harm to himself or his children and he seemed like he was one of the good guys.... but in the end he turned out to be the worst of them all. No matter how good Benoit was in the ring and how much of an accomplished performer he was (probably the best of his generation) it doesn't disguise the fact he committed the most heinous of crimes. From the sounds of the title with the words 'Ring of Hell' and "the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry" I don't think WWE owner Vince McMahon will come off too well in this movie and I'm certain this will be a production many in the industry won't want to see. Sensationalist 'biographical thriller'. This sure sounds controversial...