Knucklehead was WWE Studios first attempt to make a comedy (at least intentionally). It is also one of the few movies it has made that actually has to do with wrestling in this case, WWEs seven-foot, 400 pound giant Big Show plays a dimwitted thirty year-old orphan who becomes a wrestler in order to save his orphanage. Though Big Show had previous acting experience in comedies he appeared in Jingle All The Way, The Waterboy, and MacGruber he apparently learned nothing from his previous comedian co-stars. When the last seconds of a trailer are entirely devoted to a giant man stinking up the bedroom of a bus, you can imagine the level of humour of the movie. The only exact box office figure available for Knucklehead is $7,927, which was how much it made in South Africa. WWE Studios released the film in six U.S. theatres for two days and the screenings reportedly grossed less than $1000. Combined with the poor DVD sales, the film lost $4.1 million. Despite the failure of Knucklehead, Big Show recently filmed a starring role in the WWE Studios film Vendetta, directed by the Soska sisters, who directed See No Evil 2. In all honesty, its doubtful that Vendetta can do any worse than Knucklehead.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
