If there’s a film I’m looking forward to most this year, it’s Sean Durkin and A24’s wrestling drama, The Iron Claw. Based on the true story of the doomed Von Erich pro wrestling dynasty, it’s a story I’m very familiar with from having watched it unfold as a kid. While A24 has Past Lives as its likely Best Picture frontrunner, The Iron Claw is undoubtedly in the conversation, too, and now it has the release date to back that up.
A24 has reportedly set a December 22nd wide release date for The Iron Claw, putting it right in the heart of awards season. It will arrive during a crowded month that will see it square off against Illumination’s animated film Migration, along with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which arrives on December 20th, and The Color Purple on Christmas Day.
But The Iron Claw certainly has the muscle to power through its competition. The film is directed by Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest director Sean Durkin. He also wrote the screenplay which centers on the Von Erich family, a wrestling dynasty out of Texas for decades. They are believed to be victims of the Von Erich Curse, as five of patriarch Fritz Von Erich’s six sons, most of them professional wrestlers like him, would precede him in death.
Zac Efron plays Kevin Von Erich, with The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White (who apparently gained 40lbs of muscle) as Kerry “Texas Tornado” Von Erich, Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich, believed by many to be the most talented son, and Stanley Simons as Mike Von Erich. Holt McCallany plays Fritz Von Erich, joined by Lily James, Maura Tierney, and real-life professional wrestlers AEW World Heavyweight Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman as Lance Von Erich, Chavo Guerrero Jr. as The Sheik, and Ryan Nemeth as Gino Hernandez.
