Why WWE Films Will Work

There you have it. The title says it all. I know that there has been much talk and a wringing of hands at the thought of WWE going forward with another non-wrestling venture (please see the XFL and WBF as examples of what not to do) and even more wringing of hands and flailing of arms that workers will be playing characters. For example, some mention has been made that John Cena is just not believable as a Marine, or Kane has no place in a horror picture. In my honest opinion, these nay-Sayers couldn’t be more wrong. Wrestling industry insiders see this move as unfeasible, I believe, due to the fact that wrestling is on a downturn, or it isn’t the type of thing they would want to see from wrestlers. Luckily, WWE probably isn’t depending on the wrestling fan for most of its film revenue.

As a point of introduction, I have been a long-time wrestling fan and currently I work in the film and video industry (production and distribution). And, from where I sit, WWE has all the tools, talent and push to make this a success. Most importantly, it is very hard for it to fail.

To begin with, all the pictures chosen are genre pictures (i.e. Films that fit into nice rows in designated areas at Blockbuster). The best part about genre films is that there is a built in audience that will rent or buy EVERYTHING. As fanatical as we are about getting every PPV on DVD, horror fans, for example, will rent or buy every horror release that comes out. Certainly, a small majority of those sales or rentals will be because Kane was in the movie, but a majority of them will be made because it is a HORROR movie that happens to have Kane in it. Genre is a good business choice. 80% of your sales come from the box art and description anyway and we know that WWE has a crack staff of designers. The same theory holds true for Action, Westerns, Sci-Fi, etc. When the multi-billion dollar blockbusters have been rented, get that thing with the wrestler and let’s see some explosions!

Secondly, using John Cena as a Marine, for example, is good business. Yep, he is an entertaining wrestler. Yep, he has a great physique. Can he act? Maybe, but we don’t care. If that were the case, huge action stars like Chuck Norris would never have made a film. Again, people will rent it to see Cena, but more people will rent it to see a good looking Marine, with a good body kill some bad guys. Please see the collected works of Brian Bosworth (don’t laugh, his movies made a TON of money) for more information.

Lastly, theatrical release is not where the money is at. Not by a long shot. Home video and international territories is where WWE will make the most. A theatrical release, limited of course, will more than likely make the budget of the film back (if they keep in the 800K to 3M range). The real gravy comes from Home Video. The first round of home video goes to rental (Blockbuster, Hollywood, Movie Gallery, etc.) and will go on every one of those establishments, at least one copy deep. Roughly six months after that, the price is reduced and copies go to sell through (Best Buy, Fry’s, Grocery Stores, etc., etc.). What you lose in per unit revenue you more than make up for in volume. Finally, international territories are sold. These are a goldmine, and all you provide is a master and artwork. Let’s say WWE sells Japan to Cena is a Marine. Japan buys home video and TV rights for 7 years (usually at a huge sum). WWE delivers one master of the film and artwork and washes the old corporate hands for 7 years. At that point, they can re-sell the rights to any other company in Japan willing to pay for it.

WWE Films looks like a good business venture to me. Just as long as Lex Luger isn’t the front man.