A Movie About The Von Erich Wrestling Family Is In Development

Deadline is reporting that Sean Durkin is currently writing a feature about the rise and fall of the Von Erich wrestling family.

The project in collaboration with Tessa Ross, former head of Film4 and Juliette Howell, who are in line t produce the film for House Productions. additionally, BBC Films chief Rose Garnett, is attached to co-finance development.

Durkin said of the film, “I’m very excited about this one. It’s another family portrait, about a wrestling family who revolutionized the sport and then suffered tragedy.” Tessa Ross added, “Sean is an extraordinary filmmaker and we’re excited to be working with him.”

Following the death of the family patriarch, Fritz Von Erich who died of cancer in his Denton County home in 1997 at the age of 68, five of his six sons had predeceased him. His firstborn, Jack Jr., suffered an electric shock and drowned in a puddle at the age of 6 in 1959, outside his Niagara Falls home. In 1984, David Von Erich died in a Tokyo hotel from enteritis at the age of 25. Mike, Chris, and Kerry all committed suicide; Mike took an overdose of Placidyl near Lewisville Lake in 1987 at the age of 23, Chris shot himself in the head with a 9mm handgun in 1991 at the age of 21, and Kerry shot himself in the chest in the family yard in 1993 at the age of 33. Kevin Von Erich is the last surviving son.

These deaths are the main basis for a widespread myth about a family curse. The term "Von Erich curse."