A24 will be getting into the ring with the pro wrestling business with the upcoming movieThe Iron Claw, and the latest addition to its cast will bring a healthy does of authenticity to the project. Following the true story of pro wrestling’s famous Von Erich family, the film features Zac Efron (The Greatest Beer Run Ever) leading the cast as Kevin Von Erich. PerDeadline, A24 also just enlisted pro wrestlerMaxwell Jacob Friedman, akaMJFof All Elite Wrestling, to make his feature film debut inThe Iron Claw. Details on MJF’s role haven’t been revealed, though it seems most likely he’ll be portraying another pro wrestler from the era of the Von Erichs' heyday.
Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) wrote the script and is directing the film. With Efron playing Kevin, other actors confirmed to play two of his brothers are Jeremy Allen White (Shameless) as Kerry “The Texas Tornado” Von Erich and Harris Dickinson (Where the Crawdads Sing) as Mike Von Erich. Holt McCallany (Mindhunter) plays the patriarch of the family, Fritz Von Erich, who wound up outliving five of his six sons.The Iron Clawgoes back to the rise of the Von Erich family beginning with Fritz in the 1960s up to how the legacy lives on today following heavy losses in the family along the way.
MJF may not have performed for the world’s biggest wrestling company in WWE at this time, but he has still made a name for himself in the pro wrestling business with his work in AEW. He is considered to be one of the company’s most popular stars and currently holds the Dynamite Diamond Ring, a prize earned for winning an annual battle royale he’d also won on two previous occasions. MJF has also held numerous titles in many other independent wrestling promotions and was named Rookie of the Year by CBS Sports in 2019.
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The Iron Claw Delves Into the Von Erichs' Story
The tragic true story of the Von Erich family was previously featured in the docuseriesDark Side of the Ringin an episode titled “The Last of the Von Erichs.” Some wrestling fans have suggested that the family must be cursed after Kevin Von Erich was the only one of six boys who didn’t die at a young age. In the doc, pro wrestling personality Jim Cornette quoted Kevin as once telling him, “I used to have five brothers, now I’m not even a brother.”
Fritz Von Erich’s first son, Jack Jr., was just six years old when he was killed by a freak accident in 1959. Von Erich’s five other sons would all follow in his footsteps into the pro wrestling business in later years, though only Kevin would survive it. After 25-year-old David Von Erich died in 1984 due to an illness, another three of the siblings would die by suicide, including 23-year-old Mike in 1987; 21-year-old Chris in 1991; and 33-year-old Kerry in 1993. Fritz died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 68.
