The Iron Claw

[flyonthewall2983]

https://deadline.com/2022/06/zac-efron-the-iron-claw-a24-sean-durkin-1235046496/
 

Beyond it being a press release and on a site such as Deadline, that info is thin and nonexistent as to the involvement of the family as such, is in this production. I hope it is being done with their, and Kevin especially, approval.

[NintendoLogic]

Any telling of the Von Erich story is going to be either massively depressing or a total whitewash. If Kevin is involved, it'll likely be the latter.

[KawadaSmile]

Honestly, the fact that it is A24 related gives me hope.

[flyonthewall2983]

I’ve heard lots of praise for the director’s work, Martha Marcy May Marlene in particular. 

And yeah it being the same company that put out Uncut Gems and Moonlight tells me more about the aims of the project then if it was any of the major studios or streamers.

[Dale Wolfe]

Martha Marcy... is brilliant, one of the best films of the last ten years

He had a TV series, Southcliffe, that's quite good as well. That is quite promising

[sek69]

The problem with the Von Erichs' story is that there really is no way to "Hollywood" it up since it's depressing as hell, and if they try even a little it's like why even bother to do it then?

 

[Blehschmidt]

I mean, I guess Kevin and his mother kind of find redemption in the end. Living lives in a tropical paradise, putting the wrestling business behind them. (For the most part)

I suppose it really depends on whether they frame the business as the culprit, or Fritz as the bad guy.

[KawadaSmile]

5 hours ago, sek69 said:

The problem with the Von Erichs' story is that there really is no way to "Hollywood" it up since it's depressing as hell, and if they try even a little it's like why even bother to do it then?

 

There are a lot of A24 movies that are pretty sad and depressing, not shying away from having flat out bad endings. This feels honestly in line with their catalogue.

[The Thread Killer]

7 hours ago, sek69 said:

The problem with the Von Erichs' story is that there really is no way to "Hollywood" it up since it's depressing as hell, and if they try even a little it's like why even bother to do it then?

 

It is also one of those stories that is so incredible, if you read it as fiction you would think it was implausible or unrealistic, but it really did happen. A man with six sons who lost five of them…three to suicide? It’s still mind boggling.

[flyonthewall2983]

Framed within the context of Reagan’s America, and the ascension of cultural conservatism of which one could argue that in many ways helped the wrestling boom of the 80’s, it could make any retelling of that saga all the more interesting and infuriating all the same. 

I’m guessing Efron is going to play Kevin but I’m really interested in who’s going to play Doris. From what I’ve seen, and this is probably just down to her rightfully turning away people who wanted to exploit the boys’ downfall (including at some point her own husband I would think it’s fair to say), the story from her point of view has never really been told. 

Besides that I really wonder how this can all be boiled down to something presumably under 2 hours. It will have to acknowledge Gino Hernandez, maybe Bruiser Brody too. Maybe a longer movie could put all of those pieces in the right places but I’ve always felt this is a story needing to be told as completely as possible to understand the depth of tragedy at play.

[funkdoc]

6 minutes ago, flyonthewall2983 said:

Framed within the context of Reagan’s America, and the ascension of cultural conservatism of which one could argue that in many ways helped the wrestling boom of the 80’s, it could make any retelling of that saga all the more interesting and infuriating all the same. 

This is a very good point, particularly when you consider how much Fritz played up their Christianity and even aired their weekly show on Christian TV stations.  Would definitely expect some of the hypocrisy there to be brought up

[flyonthewall2983]

https://comicbook.com/wwe/amp/news/iron-claw-holt-mccallany-fritz-von-erich-wwe-zac-efron/

[flyonthewall2983]

Maura Tierney is cast as Doris.

[Alucard]

from filming on set in Louisiana 

[Timbo Slice]

Skinny ass calves. Someone told Efron it’s an upper body business. 

[KawadaSmile]

Someone told him he was playing Kerry too, because that roid belly is MASSIVE. Dude's heart must be the size of a car battery, holy shit. So hyped for this.

[sek69]

Kevin was always more like skinny ripped than roided out anyway.

[clintthecrippler]

Yeah my first thought was if THAT is how Zac as Kevin is looking for the movie how fucking jacked is the guy thats playing Kerry?

[KawadaSmile]

Yeah this casting is a bit weird to me. Jeremy Allen White, who's playing Kerry, fits the skinnier, yet ripped type better, and Effron is no stranger to bulking for some of his roles. Swapping them would make the most sense.

Plus Zac has that Main Event Tan always ready while JAW is paler. 

[sek69]

I wonder if this movie is going to be from Kevin's POV, which would make sense from a storytelling and logistical standpoint since you can at least have some semblance of a happy ending with him. 

There's just so many questions about this movie though. How will it handle David's death? Or parading Mike around after his illness looking like he had passed away but wasn't aware of it? Or Kerry doing what he did because he was probably facing jail time? If the family has any involvement at all, how much would they allow out there? For that matter, what will the studio execs say about a movie about an All American Christian Family with three suicides and a possible (alleged) OD? 

[Blehschmidt]

11 hours ago, sek69 said:

If the family has any involvement at all, how much would they allow out there? For that matter, what will the studio execs say about a movie about an All American Christian Family with three suicides and a possible (alleged) OD? 

I saw one of Kevin's boys comment "Looking Good" or something to that effect on the side by side comparison picture of Efron and Kevin that is floating around on Twitter. 

So it would seem they are either on board, or aren't against it yet.

[Timbo Slice]

12 hours ago, sek69 said:

I wonder if this movie is going to be from Kevin's POV, which would make sense from a storytelling and logistical standpoint since you can at least have some semblance of a happy ending with him. 

There's just so many questions about this movie though. How will it handle David's death? Or parading Mike around after his illness looking like he had passed away but wasn't aware of it? Or Kerry doing what he did because he was probably facing jail time? If the family has any involvement at all, how much would they allow out there? For that matter, what will the studio execs say about a movie about an All American Christian Family with three suicides and a possible (alleged) OD? 

The studio putting this out is the biggest independent production company in the world who is well-thought of for attention to detail and given creators free reign to do what they feel is best, so there will be absolutely no hand-holding through this type of story. It’s going to be a grittier version of “The Wrestler” given A24’s track record. 

[Coffey]

On 10/26/2022 at 8:12 PM, KawadaSmile said:

Someone told him he was playing Kerry too, because that roid belly is MASSIVE. Dude's heart must be the size of a car battery, holy shit. So hyped for this.

He looks more like Kerry facially too I feel. Like outside of the massive weight he's put on, looking like WWF era Texas Tornado. 

[Dav'oh]

Kevin interviewed about the film by TMZ the other day:

Asked if he’ll see the movie, he noted, “Oh yeah, I’ll watch it and it’ll be fun. We’ll all get together, maybe watch it out in the yeard. We do that sometimes, we have a lot of children here. And sometimes we put a big screen up in the yard and we watch movies outside at night. And we’ll probably do that with this one. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

Smoke enough Maui-Wowie and even quintuple-tragedies are fun.

[NintendoLogic]

About the only way you could make a movie about the Von Erichs fun without taking significant artistic liberties would be to end the story on May 6, 1984.