There’s a film being made on WWE's Vince McMahon and we can’t be more excited

Who do you think should play the lead role in 'Pandemonium?'

KARACHI: There have been many films about the brilliant minds that changed industries, mastered innovation and introduced revolutionary new ideas. From the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (Ali) and inventor-entrepreneur Steve Jobs (Jobs), to Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (The Social Network) or Stephen Hawking (The Theory of Everything), cinema has immortalised stories of epic struggles and eventual greatness on the big screen.

But Vincent Kennedy McMahon, chairman and CEO of the world’s largest wrestling promotion WWE, has always remained a bit underappreciated, despite his massive contributions. Whether it’s because of the debatable status of wrestling as sport or entertainment or just mere consequential sidelining of the pro wrestling industry, the question has become irrelevant because as WWE becomes bigger day by day and pro wrestling becomes more mainstream again, the genius of McMahon can’t be ignored.



According to The Hollywood Reporter, the world will finally witness the story of the mastermind behind WWE in a latest film (tentatively) titled Pandemonium. This is the first time McMahon will be profiled in a significant way and that’s a huge step forward for the wrestling world.

Produced by TriStar Pictures, WWE Studios and Aperture Entertainment, Pandemonium is written by Craig A Williams. The script first made rounds in the Hollywood circuit last summer but at the time, it didn’t have support from WWE and the companies didn’t want to antagonise the powerful conglomerate.

But when one of the co-producers Andrew Lazar (who also produced American Sniper) secured McMahon’s life rights, the script made the rounds again. TriStar is in talks with Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, directors of I Love You Phillip Morris, Crazy, Stupid, Love and American television show This Is Us, to helm the biopic.



While many wrestling personalities have written their autobiographies over the years, McMahon has never penned one and it will be interesting to see how he is depicted on screen.

The man who revolutionised the wrestling business grew up with his mother in a trailer park in North Carolina. In an interview with Esquire in 2005, McMahon even said he didn’t meet his father until he was 12.

The wrestling guru ended up joining his father Vince McMahon Sr’s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and eventually took over it in 1982, transforming it from a regional company to an international phenomenon now known as World Wresting Entertainment.



While the wrestling business model was composed of territories and promoters not invading each other’s regions back in the day, the younger McMahon had a totally different vision. He created stars in Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant and incorporated pop stars like Cyndi Lauper to gain mainstream traction in the 80s and later took the business to new heights during Monday Night Wars (with WCW) in the 90s, creating stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

The 71-year-old is also the genius behind the massively successful WrestleMania and the longest running weekly episodic television show in history, Monday Night Raw (since 1993). And several decades after changing the business forever, he continues to innovate and introduce new ideas like the recent WWE Network – a streaming subscription service solely dedicated to wrestling.



With films like Pandemonium, as well as another one on WWE star Paige’s life and the ever-expanding WWE universe, one can argue that pro wrestling has become more mainstream than ever. Wrestling fans will definitely be eager to watch the man behind the heinous villain Mr McMahon on the big screen.

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