Zac Efron Bulks Up and Gets in the Ring in First Photo From the Wrestling Drama THE IRON CLAW

A24 has released a first-look photo at the upcoming wrestling drama The Iron Claw, which features a bulked-up Zac Efron flying in the ring as the Golden Warrior, aka Kevin Von Erich.

The Iron Claw is a biographical film about the wrestling dynasty that was the Von Erich family, the story follows “the rise and fall of the family dynasty of wrestlers who made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day.”

The movie comes from director Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and also stars Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man, Where the Crawdads Sing), Holt McCallany (Lights Out, Mindhunter), Lily James (Downton Abbey, Yesterday, Pam & Tommy), Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, The Bear), and Maura Tierney (ER, The Affair).

This is an interesting story that will make for a great movie. If you’re not familiar with the Von Erich family, their history is actually pretty sad and tragic, and due to that there is a myth of the “Von Erich curse.” Here are the details:

The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member who has been in the wrestling business has used the ring name "Von Erich," after the family patriarch, Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson). Jack took on the name as part of his wrestling gimmick i.e. in ring persona as he originally portrayed a villainous (heel in wrestling terminology) German Nazi, hence using a German sounding name.

When Fritz 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., was accidentally shocked 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" is also used colloquially to refer to the chain of events. The origin or purpose of the curse is not generally agreed and rarely discussed. More often, the story is presented as a cautionary tale about parental influence, sibling rivalry and various dangers of the professional wrestling business.

Kevin's sons Marshall and Ross began wrestling in 2012, and Kerry's daughter Lacey wrestled from 2007 until her retirement in 2010.

Efron is looking pretty ripped in the photo and when the real Von Erich saw the imagine he praised Efron, saying, “I didn’t ever look that good. He looked great though, he must be working really hard.”

The Iron Claw is tentatively set for a 2023 theatrical release.