10 Topics "Crossface" Movie Needs To Address
How to give viewers the complete story.
Last week, news broke that the long-gestating Crossface, a film based on the murders of Nancy and Daniel Benoit and the suicide of Chris Benoit, is moving ahead. Lexi Alexander (Punisher: War Zone) will direct.
The 2007 rampage that saw Benoit become a family annihilator is one of the most shocking stories in the history of pro wrestling. It dominated the U.S. news cycle for weeks and led to irreversible changes in the wrestling industry. For many fans who routinely watched the beloved Benoit, the details of the killings are still too painful to talk about.
The story, of course, is gripping in a terrifying way. For that reason, it's not surprising that it's being adapted into a film - but what kind of film will it be? Such a disturbing series of events involving an industry as disrespected as pro wrestling could lead to a lurid and insensitive film. In order to do the story justice - and maybe even teach viewers a thing or two - it has to be handled with care.
The events of June 22, 2007 through June 25, 2007 will undoubtedly be covered - but lots of topics leading up to the events of that weekend (and even some afterwards) need to to get screen time to tell the whole story properly.
10. The Dynamite Kid
Even as a young man, Chris Benoit was different from other wrestling fans. While many would-be wrestlers idolised the top stars or the most fearsome grapplers in the business, Benoit's idol was Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington, a man considered by some of his peers to be the very best of all time.
When Benoit finally did become a wrestler, his look and style mirrored that of The Dynamite Kid. He wore long tights and short hair, and boasted huge muscles. Between the ropes, his use of Dynamite favourites like the diving headbutt and the snap suplex drew immediate comparisons between the two.
While there are few wrestlers better to model oneself on from a talent standpoint, unfortunately, Benoit's story ended up having strange parallels to Dynamite's. Billington's excessive steroid and painkiller use took a tremendous toll on his health, forcing him to retire at a young age and confining him to a wheelchair by the time he was 40.
He was also notoriously abusive, infamously beating his wife and threatening her with a gun.