Of all the films on this list, Dead Man Down is probably the most non-WWE WWE Studios movie. The crime drama had some well-known talent involved, with stars Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, and Terrence Howard, Fringe writer J.H. Wyman, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev. The only WWE connection is that wrestler Wade Barrett has a small role. WWE also partnered with well-known U.S. independent film distributor FilmDistrict on the release. Dead Man Down actually got strong promotion prior to release, and it seemed like WWE Studios was being careful not to promote it as a WWE-related movie to avoid the stigma of it being a wrestling movie. In a way, releasing Dead Man Down was like WWE Studios attempt to buy some credibility in the movie business. Of course, it backfired. Dead Man Down suffered the same critical thrashing that most WWE Studios releases receive, and the film ended up dying at the box office by dropping out of the U.S. top ten in only its second week. Though it grossed $18.9 million worldwide one of WWE Studios highest-grossing films weak video sales and the fact that WWE was splitting the costs and profits with FilmDistrict meant that it amounted to a $4.7 million loss for the company.
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.
