Chris Benoit Movie Confirmed

[Dagger Dias]

Rather mixed feelings here. WWE has refused to acknowledge Benoit having ever existed since the incident happened.... However the least they could have done was recognize his great career and the accomplishments he made. Instead they pretend he never existed. I had a feeling that would come back to haunt them eventually somehow and this movie will probably be it.

I do agree that the story needs to be told. Benoit existed whether WWE want us to forget him or not. I hope that the film places a large focus on his success or his skills in the ring over the years rather than putting down the wrestling industry because the last thing we as fans need is for more controversial material to be released as an attack on WWE or wrestling itself.

 

[Mr_billy]

Honestly, this movie could possibly be done tastefully and could help people in and out of the industry, as well as football players, boxers, and mma fighters. This would be a chance for a more complete story, other than the Nancy Grace version, where he was demonized, and maybe having a staff psychiatrist on the road with WWE could have avoided this,or maybe regular CAT scans. This could shed light on a situation that many of us, Human Beings, could see the effects on a traumatic brain injuries. There are many people in this world that are behind bars for things they have done because they were mentally incapable of making proper decisions. So before any of us judge this movie, maybe we can all get a little compassion and act educated and watch the movie before we make a judgement call on this movie.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The reality is that Chris Benoit was his real life name,, Vince cannot stop them using him as the basis for the movie. The first amendment gives the film makers the rights to make a movie on his story. Vince doesn't want to be associated with the murder of a child as his target audience is children. But the wrestler didn't do that, it was the private man that everyone in WWE says would not do that... so they are kinda covered. It's just Vince... maybe he is disgusted by it, maybe he feels guilty... We'll never know...

As for him "never existing" and WWE not participating, I think this if done right could be the final way for them to distance themselves from the murders but not the wrestler.

 

[iwinulose]

wow, a movie like this can only end in a train wreck, i wonder how much money the studio who tries to make this movie will be sued? this would kill the wwe if this movie was made. then again (though people would argue) benoit was a person, and to be entirely honest, despite what he did (killing his wife and son) it was indeed the wwe's fault. they should have been on benoits ass, to ensure that he wasnt abusing all these drugs.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

wow, a movie like this can only end in a train wreck, i wonder how much money the studio who tries to make this movie will be sued? this would kill the wwe if this movie was made. then again (though people would argue) benoit was a person, and to be entirely honest, despite what he did (killing his wife and son) it was indeed the wwe's fault. they should have been on benoits ass, to ensure that he wasnt abusing all these drugs.

First of all...we all know what he did so no need to re-iterate it.

Do you know how many people are employed by WWE...not to mention the wrestlers alone, including FCW? WWE can't watch everyone. From what I've heard from everyone when the incident occurred, Benoit showed no signs of abuse. Kurt Angle showed signs, that's why WWE tried to help him.

The wellness policy was made stricter because of Benoit. WWE changed everything they did from then on out. No more chair shots to the head, etc...because of what had happened to his brain.

Sorry but WWE IS NOT to blame.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

If it were me making it, I'd not even show the murders, just the aftermath, maybe even just a shot of the action figure of Chris that was famously next to Daniels bed... that in itself is far more chilling an image than seeing the murders could ever be.

I like this. They could "end" it on a high note (Benoit was in a big push at the time) and then fade it to black. Then you hear a police siren and just show footage of cops leaving a house, maybe paramedics pushing a stretcher, and then just throw some text up describing what happened.

The movie RAY, the story of Ray Charles did this.


During the credits maybe get some real footage of interviews, maybe footage from when WWE did the remembrance show and some news interviews like when Jericho was on Larry King Live.

When the credits ran during the Gridiron Gang they did this. They used real footage of Sean Porter and the kids he mentored.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

"Controversy puts asses in seats"

I think someone in this thread said that before and that is what this movie is going for. People WANT to see the Benoit murders acted out on the big screen and the story leading up to it. I am sure it would be a success, if the producers could overcome a huge obstacle: The largest wrestling company in the world and their reluctance to to be associated with a killer. Unless the movie would include moments and an explanation of his time in WWE, it would fail miserably. No one wants to see Benoit leave WCW, then in the next scene kill his family and let the movie end there. I am almost sure that WWE will not let footage of his career there as well as any mention of them be included in this possible movie. Unless you are going to have his most important moments of his wrestling career (WWE time) and his sudden death as well as murders than there is no point in making a Chris Benoit film. Even though I wish against it, this thing could and will fail if WWE is excluded from this.

 

[multiverseman.com]

I think this is a good idea.

Benoit was a real person with a real life that ended tragically. No need to keep pretending it didn't happen. Hopefully it gets puts in perspective with this movie.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I don't think I'd worry too much about this movie ever getting made... or at least getting made in a way that it would ever be something that gains any interest.

To tell this story properly, the film makers absolutely need the WWE's copyrights, and I find it almost impossible to believe that they would ever get them.

Without them, they have to spend so much time writing around his time in WWE/WCW/ECW... even Stampede (pretty sure McMahon owns most of their history as well), that it would be too distracting and kill the script. It would affect their distribution, and the end result would be like the Paul Bernardo biopic that caused a huge stir in Canada, but ended up being so insignificant most people didn't even realize it ever came out.

 

[UFOcalling]

Sorry, I didn't read everyone's posts here (just the first couple of pages), so if I'm repeating anyone I apologize...

I was a big fan of Benoit, and I was REALLY torn up about what happened at the end of his life. Obviously it was a tremendous tragedy, and really REALLY messed up.

Even after all of that, I was still very interested in the story of what led up to Mr. Benoit's actions. You can call me morbid, etc...but you've got to admit that it is a VERY unusual and interesting (at least in my mind) story.

I'm actually looking forward to watching this movie, although (like many others) I still don't understand if it's supposed to be a documentary or a dramatic film with actors. I'll still see it, either way...even if it is a straight-to-DVD release (which it most likely will be). It might be released to the art-house theater circuit, but I doubt it...even if it is, I'll still wait to watch it at home.

I'm most interested in how Chris comes off in the movie, because there are at least a couple of different ways the producers/director/writers can take this. I'm curious to see if Benoit is portrayed as a monster, or if the filmmakers try to make you sympathize with him (and his situation). They could also place a lot of the blame on the WWE (or the wrestling industry as a whole), although I personally think that would be lazy on their part.