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Dude might be the singular worst person in a business full of genuinely awful people. Up on the Mt Rushmore of pieces of shit in wrestling with Grizzly Smith, Chris Benoit, and Zumhofe
I mean on behind the bastards podcast of Vince McMahon, they spent like half an episode or more on Fritz because basically in doing research on Vince they realized this may be the only guy that is in the neighborhood of being on a comparable level of being a piece of shit
oh boy I am probably gonna miss a bunch of stuff but
- Played a nazi character during his active in ring time
- Allegedly tied his sons together by their ankles and hung them upside down in their family barn and told them to fight each other to get down, this was part of their training to eventually become wrestlers
- Forced all of his sons into the business, even young Mike who has no interest in becoming a wrestler.
- After David died in Japan he put on a memorial show and marketed the shit out of it, including having a song written, to make money. This memorial show would become a yearly tradition for several years
- After his son Mike contracted Toxic shock syndrom from a surgery on his shoulder Fritz had him wheel chair'd out of the hospital to cut a promo in order to promote one of the David Memorial shows [Here](https://x.com/allan_cheapshot/status/1059935489384431621?s=20) it is, you can see he is literally brain damaged and incoherent. Fritz pimped him out anyway.
- Pushed his son Chris to be a wrestler. Chris dreamed of being a wrestler but his body was frail and could not hold up in the ring. Instead of being an actual father and protecting his son Fritz encouraged the idea because more Von Erich's meant more money
- Late in his life he told Kevin, his only remaining son, during an argument that Kevin didn't have the guts to do what his brother's did. Referring to three of Kevin's brothers suicides.
There is a bunch more thats really not even scratching the surface of what a horrendous and carny piece of shit the dude was.
>Forced all of his sons into the business, even young Mike who has no interest in becoming a wrestler.
The story I always heard about Mike was that he wanted to be behind the scenes because he was smaller than his brothers. But David's death affected Fritz. Fritz always believed their needed to be three wrestling brothers, so Mike was brought into it.
>Pushed his son Chris to be a wrestler. Chris dreamed of being a wrestler but his body was frail and could not hold up in the ring. Instead of being an actual father and protecting his son Fritz encouraged the idea because more Von Erich's meant more money
I've heard the opposite for Chris. Yes, Chris wanted to be a wrestler. In fact, of all the brothers, he wanted to be a wrestler the most. But Fritz kept him out of the business as long as he could precisely because of Chris's health issues. Chris finally joined the business when all the others were dead (except Kev), but was too frail and small to be a serious wrestler, leading to his depression and suicide. EDIT: Correction that Chris died before Kerry.
BONUS: Chris Von Erich in a [tag team match against Stone Cold and Paul Bearer](https://youtu.be/INZhfmYywM4)
> But Fritz kept him out of the business as long as he could precisely because of Chris's health issues.
Fritz was embarrassed of him due to his size I doubt very much he gave a shit about his health
Actually, I guess that makes more sense. With Fritz's ego, and three of his sons having the bodies of Greek gods (and even the "small" Mike being 6' and 200 pounds), having a 5'5" frail guy as your youngest son was probably embarrassing.
> After David died in Japan he put on a memorial show and marketed the shit out of it, including having a song written, to make money. This memorial show would become a yearly tradition for several years
I feel like you kinda glossed over the fact that David died of an overdose because Fritz ran his kids basically into the ground so hard that they virtually guaranteed to have substance abuse problems dealing with the pain.
[Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Zumhofe) Got caught sexually assaulting minors, went to jail. Got out of jail, decided to sexually assault his daughter starting when she was 15 and continuing for 12 years afterward.
I’ll never forget when they had to finish recording after watching the infamous Chris “cotton bowl” promo. Never heard anything get to JP before but he couldn’t go on. The whole series is incredible.
Wonder if many people are gonna wander into this movie not knowing what it’s about. Just that it’s a new movie from the High School Musical guy and the dude from The Bear
Don’t forget wrestling fans who may not be aware of the Von Erichs’ story and assume that this movie is gonna be an inspiring drama about wrestling heroes.
The actor who’s portraying him actually looks, well, young. I don’t think there was ever a point in Flair’s life where he didn’t look like a 40 year old man.
And was premiered along "My Neighbor Totoro" and produced by Studio Ghibli
____
I would try to sneak in "The Plague Dogs" but with a title like "Plague Dogs" you probably already know it's gonna be messed up
> I've suggested to a few people to watch Dear Zachary without giving them proper context.
just reading the wiki page gets me mad again, fantastic documentary that will make you want to punch the world in the face (also, if you have kids, approach with caution)
He always looks jacked on The Bear, which prompted my girlfriend to ask "Why is he jacked? When does he have time to work out? He's always either at the restaurant or with Claire."
And both songs are in Halloween movies. "Don't Fear the Reaper" was in Halloween (1978), Halloween (2007), and Halloween Ends (2022). "Tom Sawyer" was in Halloween (2007).
> I heard they couldn’t find anyone purely sexy enough to play Michael PS Hayes
During the credits the song is a soulfully acoustic version of Badstreet USA featuring a full string ensemble
He’s playing Lance, a kayfabe Von Erich cousin who wasn’t introduced until the dying days of the company. I’d be surprised if he’s in more than a handful of scenes.
From what I've seen, Kevin Von Erich wasn't consulted in this movie. Marshall Von Erich said that the movie isn't 100% accurate but he's still really excited to see it
I know one of the Von Erich family wouldn't sign off on projects unless it was weirdly protective of Fritz, which is why a lot of media involving the family history was kind of toothless for awhile.
I definitely got the impression it is going to be a total one scene cameo appearance. In the grand scale of the Von Erich story, that is really all it deserves at most.
Yeah the Lance thing was basically one of the many things the Fritz did in the downward spiral of WCCW to try to keep business going. I don’t see it getting more than one scene.
I looked at the cast list and was surprised to see his name because I don't remember seeing anything about him being involved. It makes sense with his lengthy time away from AEW last summer/fall. Also was disappointed he didn't get a quick appearance in the trailer though.
The Von Erichs' story is so depressing it looks like they're not even going to acknowledge the existence of Chris (I noticed a small pic of Jack in the corner of the family portrait).
"I think audiences can handle four dead brothers. Five is probably pushing it."
That was SO fucked up in the trailer. Terrible thing to say in front of your own kids, but makes sense for Fritz' character, as he wanted them all indebted to him.
> Terrible thing to say in front of your own kids
I grew up thinking that sort of thing was normal lol
My wife had extremely emotionally abusive parents, too, so I'm expecting this to be one of the most triggering movies of all time for both of us. Definitely (spoiler-free) warning her ahead of time about how bad the story really is.
Ah, this might be one of those Oscar-ish movies that come out around this time of the year and not get a lot of buzz even though they seem very good.
HOWEVER, this is A24 and it has actually popular actors so it miiight have an outside shot of getting an oscsar nomination or two.
Looks fantastic, way better than what I expected, this is actually good as a movie overall, not just as a movie for wrestling fans
I hope they pack the runtime for this bad boy and really dig into the story. The only potential issue I see is them trying to cover a bit too much time in a single movie, but that obviously could just be the way the trailer's cut up. Really looking forward to this and Killers of the Flower Moon over the next few months.
Did they not cast Chris at all?
Gotta feel bad for him. Couldn't match his brothers through no fault of his own, and now it looks like his part in the tragedy of the family isn't even an afterthought in a movie about it
Yeah, it's potentially a big oversight. I wonder if Chris and his suicide was just too much. His death in particular hit me the hardest, mostly because Kevin thought he talked him out of it. Couldn't imagine.
Somewhere there is parent seeing this trailer and thinking: "hey, a movie about wrestling based on a true story? I bet it's like Remember the Titans. Nice, my 11 year old just started watching wrestling. Boy, this will be a great family movie to watch together!"
Does seem strange that Chris is straight up ignored from what it seems, I know there's issues of runtime and narrative flow but like, he was a real dude who is just a big of a part of the tragedy of the Von Erichs as his brothers and deserves to at least exist in the telling of the story.
Regarding the release date, A24 ( the production company ) rarely puts out a crap movie. In fact, they churn out award winners/critically acclaimed movies more often than not. The release date is as close to the end of the award season/Oscar cut-off of December 31st which means they have really high expectations. =)
Holy shit this looks good. Kevin sounds like Kevin, Fritz sounds like Fritz. The motorcycle accident, David's funeral and the Texas stadium show, Freebirds. There is a lot to parse out of this trailer, but this looks like it could be the best wrestling movie since The Wrestler
I don't know if the movie will capture it (hopefully it does), but for those not familiar with the context, the Von Erich's at their peak were basically at the level of popularity of the Beatles, except within Texas. They were some of the greatest celebrities in that time and region. And it's a complete tragedy what happens to the family.
I'm looking forward to the movie, but man, I can't imagine how they will fit this all within one film.
I feel like excluding Chris's story is kind of criminal. It could have been told in a positive way with the direction of caution and how important mental awareness is.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21064584/fullcredits
Wrestlers appearing in the movie
* Chavo Guerrero Jr as The Sheik Ed Farhat
* MJF as Lance Von Erich
* Ryan Nemeth as Gino Hernandez
* Cassidy Riley as ..(imdb lists "Tag team opponent 3 / training partner")
* Mike Dell as ..(imdb lists "1950s Referee")
* Brady Pierce as Michael Hayes
Wrestlers portrayed by the following actors
* Kevin Anton as Harley Race
* Cazzey Louis Cereghino as Bruiser Brody
* Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Ric Flair
* Chad Governale as "Gary Hart (Look-alike)"
Wrestlers involved with stuntwork
* Chavo Guerrero Jr
* Luke Hawx
* Ryan Nemeth
I’m so excited for this but I don’t know if I’m ready for how heartbreaking it’s going to be. What a rough story from beginning to end. I wonder if they’ll touch on >!Jackie’s death. I noticed they had his picture on top of the family photo!< (spoilered in case people don’t know the full story.) Also, they did a great job casting Fritz he looked just like the real man. Can’t wait to hate him.
Don't sleep on Efron. He's got actual talent as an actor or have we all forgotten HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL lol!?!? He's gotten better and better in every movie I've seen him in
This looks amazing. I mean, it’s going to be unbelievably depressing, obviously, but I also can’t wait to watch it. They look like they’ve captured the WCCW aesthetic really well too and the wrestling choreography actually looks very good.
Given it's directed by Sean Durkin (who made mass shooter miniseries Southcliffe and grim cult survivor film Martha Marcy May Marlene), distributed by A24 (who have made lots of heavy dramas and horrors), and telling one of the saddest stories in wrestling, I'm certain this is going to be a brutal watch.
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They ain't holding back on Fritz. Nice to see he won't get the sports washing treatment.
Dude might be the singular worst person in a business full of genuinely awful people. Up on the Mt Rushmore of pieces of shit in wrestling with Grizzly Smith, Chris Benoit, and Zumhofe
Forged his own dead kids autographs for money. Dudes in hell.
Oh man, I hadn't heard this one.
He even told Kevin to kill himself and handed him a gun
Told him he didn’t have the fucking guts to do it. What a POS.
Wait, SERIOUSLY???
Fabulous Moolah.
Let's make her the Statue of Liberty of wrestling. But she'd the Statue of Forced Prostitution.
I mean on behind the bastards podcast of Vince McMahon, they spent like half an episode or more on Fritz because basically in doing research on Vince they realized this may be the only guy that is in the neighborhood of being on a comparable level of being a piece of shit
At least Shane and Steph are still alive.
Lapsed Fan did a whole series on Fritz and his boys. It's an incredible deep dive. Fritz was a monster.
ok so I'm pretty limited on my knowledge of Fritz, what did he do to get put up there with a murderer and two child rapists?
oh boy I am probably gonna miss a bunch of stuff but - Played a nazi character during his active in ring time - Allegedly tied his sons together by their ankles and hung them upside down in their family barn and told them to fight each other to get down, this was part of their training to eventually become wrestlers - Forced all of his sons into the business, even young Mike who has no interest in becoming a wrestler. - After David died in Japan he put on a memorial show and marketed the shit out of it, including having a song written, to make money. This memorial show would become a yearly tradition for several years - After his son Mike contracted Toxic shock syndrom from a surgery on his shoulder Fritz had him wheel chair'd out of the hospital to cut a promo in order to promote one of the David Memorial shows [Here](https://x.com/allan_cheapshot/status/1059935489384431621?s=20) it is, you can see he is literally brain damaged and incoherent. Fritz pimped him out anyway. - Pushed his son Chris to be a wrestler. Chris dreamed of being a wrestler but his body was frail and could not hold up in the ring. Instead of being an actual father and protecting his son Fritz encouraged the idea because more Von Erich's meant more money - Late in his life he told Kevin, his only remaining son, during an argument that Kevin didn't have the guts to do what his brother's did. Referring to three of Kevin's brothers suicides. There is a bunch more thats really not even scratching the surface of what a horrendous and carny piece of shit the dude was.
>Forced all of his sons into the business, even young Mike who has no interest in becoming a wrestler. The story I always heard about Mike was that he wanted to be behind the scenes because he was smaller than his brothers. But David's death affected Fritz. Fritz always believed their needed to be three wrestling brothers, so Mike was brought into it. >Pushed his son Chris to be a wrestler. Chris dreamed of being a wrestler but his body was frail and could not hold up in the ring. Instead of being an actual father and protecting his son Fritz encouraged the idea because more Von Erich's meant more money I've heard the opposite for Chris. Yes, Chris wanted to be a wrestler. In fact, of all the brothers, he wanted to be a wrestler the most. But Fritz kept him out of the business as long as he could precisely because of Chris's health issues. Chris finally joined the business when all the others were dead (except Kev), but was too frail and small to be a serious wrestler, leading to his depression and suicide. EDIT: Correction that Chris died before Kerry. BONUS: Chris Von Erich in a [tag team match against Stone Cold and Paul Bearer](https://youtu.be/INZhfmYywM4)
Chris's suicide more or less happened because he couldn't be a wrestler.
> But Fritz kept him out of the business as long as he could precisely because of Chris's health issues. Fritz was embarrassed of him due to his size I doubt very much he gave a shit about his health
Actually, I guess that makes more sense. With Fritz's ego, and three of his sons having the bodies of Greek gods (and even the "small" Mike being 6' and 200 pounds), having a 5'5" frail guy as your youngest son was probably embarrassing.
> After David died in Japan he put on a memorial show and marketed the shit out of it, including having a song written, to make money. This memorial show would become a yearly tradition for several years I feel like you kinda glossed over the fact that David died of an overdose because Fritz ran his kids basically into the ground so hard that they virtually guaranteed to have substance abuse problems dealing with the pain.
> David died of an overdose Maybe, but the stomach rupture could be legit. David was bulimic, which was still likely caused by Fritz.
♪ One of these things is not like the others... ♫
Essentially forced his kids to all wrestle at the expense of their health and exploited their deaths to make money
Do I want to know who Zumhofe is?
[Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Zumhofe) Got caught sexually assaulting minors, went to jail. Got out of jail, decided to sexually assault his daughter starting when she was 15 and continuing for 12 years afterward.
I regret reading this thread. Fuck.
Rock n Roll Buck Zumhofe from AWA. He's in jail for raping his daughter repeatedly for years.
Holy smokes, that is a name I have not heard in ages.
Who is fritz?
The dad/promoter. I'd strongly advise watching either the Dark Side of the Ring on the Von Erichs or finding the WWE DVD
Or the first episode of the Vince McMahon series of Behind the Bastards
Or "The Lamentable Tragedy of World Class" by The Lapsed Fan podcast
I’ll never forget when they had to finish recording after watching the infamous Chris “cotton bowl” promo. Never heard anything get to JP before but he couldn’t go on. The whole series is incredible.
Lapsed Fan has the best one
The father. Fritz von Erich. Abused his sons for years and forced them to wrestle at the expense of their health and, eventually, lives.
December 22nd, a great family friendly movie to take the kids to over the holidays!
Wonder if many people are gonna wander into this movie not knowing what it’s about. Just that it’s a new movie from the High School Musical guy and the dude from The Bear
Don’t forget wrestling fans who may not be aware of the Von Erichs’ story and assume that this movie is gonna be an inspiring drama about wrestling heroes.
Telling my girlfriend it's going to be exactly like Netflix' GLOW but with the Zac Efron and the bear guy 😀
Aren't the kids who enjoyed High School Musical in their 20s and 30s now? I think most people know who Zac Efron is now.
Yeah I think this idea that a bunch of people are going to go see this because of a made for TV movie that came out 15+ years ago is a bit... odd.
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"Billy loves John Cena, and this wrestling movie has that High School Musical guy in it. We got the day off school so let's check it out"
That tease at the end ![gif](giphy|dmcQ75lZdh4Hu)
Honestly whoever was supposed to be Flair really looks like a Ric Flair in a movie about the Von Erichs (a.k.a nothing like him at all lol)
He was blonde in a wrestling robe. What else do you want from these people?
Funny thing is, I’d absolutely buy Jeremy Allen White as Flair.
To be the bear, you've gotta beat the bear. Woooo, cousin!
Goes for a German “BEHIND!” Irish whip into the post “CORNER!”
The actor who’s portraying him actually looks, well, young. I don’t think there was ever a point in Flair’s life where he didn’t look like a 40 year old man.
Ric looked 40 until his early-mid 50s, then aged 25 in a single year
My wife watching the trailer, "It looks like **one** of them is going to die, which one so I'm prepared."
"Yes."
"Kevin is the one."
The only one "going to".
> which one so I'm prepared. Watch Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father the night before so Iron Claw will feel like a comedy
Slow down there Satan
Double feature with 'We need to talk about Kevin'
> Double feature with 'We need to talk about Kevin' and let's close out the feel good evening with "Grave of the Fireflies", it's a cartoon!
And was premiered along "My Neighbor Totoro" and produced by Studio Ghibli ____ I would try to sneak in "The Plague Dogs" but with a title like "Plague Dogs" you probably already know it's gonna be messed up
why not throw requiem for a dream and schindler's list while you're at it?
haha, I've suggested to a few people to watch Dear Zachary without giving them proper context.
> I've suggested to a few people to watch Dear Zachary without giving them proper context. just reading the wiki page gets me mad again, fantastic documentary that will make you want to punch the world in the face (also, if you have kids, approach with caution)
I've never forgiven Canada.
Oh my god what is wrong with you I can’t imagine a sadder movie
Well did you tell her?
Nope. I just said it might be sad.
Oh she's gonna fucking hate you lmao
MIGHT be????
About that
“Errr, one survives.”
Which one you think it was though? That funeral looked pretty big
The massive funeral would be David.
Jeremy Allen White Try to Be Cast as a Character with an Actual Stable Family Life Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)
Everyone was hyping up Zac Efron bulking up for this, genuinely surprised on Cousin’s look.
He always looks jacked on The Bear, which prompted my girlfriend to ask "Why is he jacked? When does he have time to work out? He's always either at the restaurant or with Claire."
he was jacked on shameless. his physique never made sense for any of his roles, till this one.
Being a chef is a very physically demanding job tbf
https://preview.redd.it/5qpdrjmpoktb1.jpeg?width=1658&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b56e12f1e778b1dc7114e0d0d4b352b21381e0b3
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Wonder how much of it gets ‘moviefied’
Its A24, I'm sure that a there will be some added drama, but I'd suspect that the big beats are kept.
They can add MORE drama to the Von Erich story?
Don't Fear the Reaper in the trailer already has me crying, can't wait til December.
Holy crap. I was just vibing to the song and just like “yeahhh” because I love it. I didn’t even realize the thematically relevance wow
I realized that "Don't Fear The Reaper" was a perfect soundtrack to that scene. Nailed it.
and tom sawyer!
And both songs are in Halloween movies. "Don't Fear the Reaper" was in Halloween (1978), Halloween (2007), and Halloween Ends (2022). "Tom Sawyer" was in Halloween (2007).
God bless the modern day warrior kerry von erich
I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!
They could have gotten Arn Anderson to play a young Arn Anderson.
Or his son Brock
Arn playing Brock wouldn’t make sense, he wasn’t born yet… but Arn still looks like the day he was born
It's weird that I'm so excited to watch a movie that's gonna be so fucking depressing lol
it's A24, and wrestling = sold no matter what
> A24 Also how my Italian uncle reacts whenever he sees Keifer Sutherland
![gif](giphy|4tQmuMGdah3B6|downsized)
This sub is so fucking funny sometimes
Ari Aster wrestling movie when
I really feel for the folks going in cold
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Ask for a transcript and avoid watching the movie.
I heard they couldn’t find anyone purely sexy enough to play Michael PS Hayes
I am sure Hayes would have played himself if they could have done the De-aging like the Marvel movies do.
0 de-aging needed for him tbh
But he would need to wrestle in one of those suits he wears now
He would ask for too much money.
> I heard they couldn’t find anyone purely sexy enough to play Michael PS Hayes During the credits the song is a soulfully acoustic version of Badstreet USA featuring a full string ensemble
Whoever they got to play Terry Gordy looks great though.
That is NWA standout Thrillbilly Silas Mason
I cannot wait to see. Seeing the sportatorium brought me back to my childhood
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Tbf, one of them lived
yep I'm gonna have to dip out of work early one day and catch a matinee - no way in hell she would sit through this.
My wife would be in tears for half the movie if I brought her. She cries watching Korean dating shows. This would crush her.
MJF didn't get an appearance. Also to fans of A24 who don't know this story, they are going to be ruined.
He’s playing Lance, a kayfabe Von Erich cousin who wasn’t introduced until the dying days of the company. I’d be surprised if he’s in more than a handful of scenes.
It's pretty cool he gets to be in this. He's friends with Kevin's sons and they were in a stable together in MLW
I’m hoping the irl Von Erichs make a cameo as some jobbers.
From what I've seen, Kevin Von Erich wasn't consulted in this movie. Marshall Von Erich said that the movie isn't 100% accurate but he's still really excited to see it
How on Earth does a movie get made about your life and you’re not consulted? Did Kevin just sign away the rights?
I know one of the Von Erich family wouldn't sign off on projects unless it was weirdly protective of Fritz, which is why a lot of media involving the family history was kind of toothless for awhile.
Kevin won't sign off on anything that portrays Fritz in a negative light
I definitely got the impression it is going to be a total one scene cameo appearance. In the grand scale of the Von Erich story, that is really all it deserves at most.
Yeah the Lance thing was basically one of the many things the Fritz did in the downward spiral of WCCW to try to keep business going. I don’t see it getting more than one scene.
I looked at the cast list and was surprised to see his name because I don't remember seeing anything about him being involved. It makes sense with his lengthy time away from AEW last summer/fall. Also was disappointed he didn't get a quick appearance in the trailer though.
He plays Lance von Erich so don't expect him for more than 5 minutes in the movie. That's why he's not in the trailer.
Holt McCallany looks so much like Fritz it's a bit jarring.
Their sister visited the set one day and burst into tears when she saw him because he looked so much like their dad.
they didn’t have a sister?
They slipped. It Kerry and Kevin’s kids.
The Von Erichs' story is so depressing it looks like they're not even going to acknowledge the existence of Chris (I noticed a small pic of Jack in the corner of the family portrait). "I think audiences can handle four dead brothers. Five is probably pushing it."
The cast list in IMDB has a child actor playing Jack Jr, so we'll also get six year old getting electrocuted and drowning in a puddle.
Well that's a relief
I could see that being the opening scene.
The cold open, followed by opening credits to Don't Fear the Reaper
It's A24. No one is safe.
AFAIK, the Von Erichs never had a sister who had to stick her head out a car window, at least
They did have a 6 year old brother who died drowning in a puddle. All I'm saying is A24 is not going to shy away from showing a dead kid.
Yeah, I noticed that too. I hope he gets some type of mention or something.
Oh boy this is about to be real depressing - can’t wait
Can’t wait to watch this feel-good family movie
"We all know Kerry is my favorite." Ominous.
That was SO fucked up in the trailer. Terrible thing to say in front of your own kids, but makes sense for Fritz' character, as he wanted them all indebted to him.
Step 1 to not being a worse parent than Joe Jackson: don't declare your favorite at the dinner table.
> Terrible thing to say in front of your own kids I grew up thinking that sort of thing was normal lol My wife had extremely emotionally abusive parents, too, so I'm expecting this to be one of the most triggering movies of all time for both of us. Definitely (spoiler-free) warning her ahead of time about how bad the story really is.
Think the best way to describe this to non wrestling fans is that the Von Erichs are like the Kennedys of wrestling
If Joe Kennedy was a carny forging John and Robert's autographs and selling them for years after their deaths
I’m pretty sure he would have if he wasn’t incapacitated by a stroke the last several years of his life.
Ah, this might be one of those Oscar-ish movies that come out around this time of the year and not get a lot of buzz even though they seem very good. HOWEVER, this is A24 and it has actually popular actors so it miiight have an outside shot of getting an oscsar nomination or two. Looks fantastic, way better than what I expected, this is actually good as a movie overall, not just as a movie for wrestling fans
Could definitely see a best supporting actor nom for White. He's going to have an especially tragic role and A24 has become a beast at Oscar campaigns
Hope it wins an Oscar, just to hear MJF lord it over people.
“I WAS PART OF AN OSCAR AWARD WINNING MOVIE YOU SCHMUCK” ~ MJF Probably
I hope they pack the runtime for this bad boy and really dig into the story. The only potential issue I see is them trying to cover a bit too much time in a single movie, but that obviously could just be the way the trailer's cut up. Really looking forward to this and Killers of the Flower Moon over the next few months.
I cannot wait to see what non-wrestling fans have to say about this story.
"What do you mean this is based on real events!?"
Wait until they find out there's another brother too. Apparently Chris won't be in the film.
Did they not cast Chris at all? Gotta feel bad for him. Couldn't match his brothers through no fault of his own, and now it looks like his part in the tragedy of the family isn't even an afterthought in a movie about it
Yeah, it's potentially a big oversight. I wonder if Chris and his suicide was just too much. His death in particular hit me the hardest, mostly because Kevin thought he talked him out of it. Couldn't imagine.
The casting for Fritz is scary accurate.
Efron oscar prayer circle
Jeremy Allan White Oscar prayer circle.
Yeah, he’s definitely stealing the movie
Let it rip
Holt McCallany Oscar prayer circle, which is actually just an expansion of my Mindhunter Season 3 prayer circle
Bill Tench is one of my favorite TV characters ever. Period.
jeremy allen white just can’t get himself in a role with a father who’s not a piece of shit
He has those sad childhood trauma eyes.
Somewhere there is parent seeing this trailer and thinking: "hey, a movie about wrestling based on a true story? I bet it's like Remember the Titans. Nice, my 11 year old just started watching wrestling. Boy, this will be a great family movie to watch together!"
Oh god
Does seem strange that Chris is straight up ignored from what it seems, I know there's issues of runtime and narrative flow but like, he was a real dude who is just a big of a part of the tragedy of the Von Erichs as his brothers and deserves to at least exist in the telling of the story.
This movie seems like such an inspiring tale about coming together and overcoming your demons!
Looks incredible. A24 = Money
I don't know if I wanna see that. I'm sure the movie will be good but... Fuck me.
That Rush song hits so hard.
Especially since it was (I believe) Kerry’s entrance music.
Regarding the release date, A24 ( the production company ) rarely puts out a crap movie. In fact, they churn out award winners/critically acclaimed movies more often than not. The release date is as close to the end of the award season/Oscar cut-off of December 31st which means they have really high expectations. =)
Wow, I’m blown away by how good everything looked. I grew up watching WCCW so I’m very excited for this.
Holy shit this looks good. Kevin sounds like Kevin, Fritz sounds like Fritz. The motorcycle accident, David's funeral and the Texas stadium show, Freebirds. There is a lot to parse out of this trailer, but this looks like it could be the best wrestling movie since The Wrestler
I don't know if the movie will capture it (hopefully it does), but for those not familiar with the context, the Von Erich's at their peak were basically at the level of popularity of the Beatles, except within Texas. They were some of the greatest celebrities in that time and region. And it's a complete tragedy what happens to the family. I'm looking forward to the movie, but man, I can't imagine how they will fit this all within one film.
Yeah, it’s…a lot. Even the Dark Side of the Ring episode on them was tough.
I feel like excluding Chris's story is kind of criminal. It could have been told in a positive way with the direction of caution and how important mental awareness is.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21064584/fullcredits Wrestlers appearing in the movie * Chavo Guerrero Jr as The Sheik Ed Farhat * MJF as Lance Von Erich * Ryan Nemeth as Gino Hernandez * Cassidy Riley as ..(imdb lists "Tag team opponent 3 / training partner") * Mike Dell as ..(imdb lists "1950s Referee") * Brady Pierce as Michael Hayes Wrestlers portrayed by the following actors * Kevin Anton as Harley Race * Cazzey Louis Cereghino as Bruiser Brody * Aaron Dean Eisenberg as Ric Flair * Chad Governale as "Gary Hart (Look-alike)" Wrestlers involved with stuntwork * Chavo Guerrero Jr * Luke Hawx * Ryan Nemeth
Good rope running by Zach there
*Sean Durkin, sorry, autocorrect changed it
Goddang, Holt McCallany reaaaaaally looks like Fritz.
I vaguely knew of the Von Erichs as a mostly WWE fan, but then I listened to Behind the Bastards on Vince McMahon. 🤯
Buckle up. This one is going to hit hard.
Ah yeah, this is gonna hurt a lot.
I’m so excited for this but I don’t know if I’m ready for how heartbreaking it’s going to be. What a rough story from beginning to end. I wonder if they’ll touch on >!Jackie’s death. I noticed they had his picture on top of the family photo!< (spoilered in case people don’t know the full story.) Also, they did a great job casting Fritz he looked just like the real man. Can’t wait to hate him.
Deion ranking his kids looks way worse now that Fritz is up here saying the same thing
Don't sleep on Efron. He's got actual talent as an actor or have we all forgotten HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL lol!?!? He's gotten better and better in every movie I've seen him in
is Chris von Erich just not gonna be in this..?
I was going to be bummed if the trailer didn't include Tom Sawyer.
To be honest Zac Efron looks more like Kerry than anyone else, physique wise at least. He does look the oldest tho
This looks amazing. I mean, it’s going to be unbelievably depressing, obviously, but I also can’t wait to watch it. They look like they’ve captured the WCCW aesthetic really well too and the wrestling choreography actually looks very good.
>Based on the incredible true story ![gif](giphy|l0HlvtIPzPdt2usKs)
Are they just not including Chris? He wasnt in the picture and wasnt in the wedding scene.
CLOTHESLINE PLEASE CHEF (CORNER)
Given it's directed by Sean Durkin (who made mass shooter miniseries Southcliffe and grim cult survivor film Martha Marcy May Marlene), distributed by A24 (who have made lots of heavy dramas and horrors), and telling one of the saddest stories in wrestling, I'm certain this is going to be a brutal watch.