About The Production

Faced with the task of creating a movie that would appeal to a wide audience of wrestling fans and non-wresting fans alike, the filmmakers sought the advice and support of World Championship Wrestling, whose WCW Monday Nitro and Thunder cable shows attract millions of fans each week. WCW provided not only technical support but according to producer Bobby Newmyer, "they gave us the courage to portray wrestling as it really is. Our challenge was to maintain the thrills and pageantry of the wrestling world and WCW was invaluable in that aspect."

For the filmmakers, the key to the success of bringing "Ready To Rumble" to life was the casting of David Arquette, Scott Caan and Oliver Platt. "We were looking for that all-elusive chemistry and Scott, David and Oliver just seemed to have it," says producer Newmyer. "They had that magic together."

"David was perfect for the role of Gordie and I knew he would create a great character," says Robbins. "I had worked with Scott and knew he was a really innovative, funny and fresh actor. When I read the part of Sean I immediately thought of Scott."

For Arquette, a self-proclaimed "wrestling freak," working with his favorite wrestlers was "a dream come true. I'm a little starstruck by a lot of them. They're all really great guys." Arquette adds, joking, "I'm a little frightened of Sid Vicious; Diamond Dallas Page — I look out for the diamond cutter. I don't want him to put the smack-down on me. They're all really great guys; I just don't want to get speared by Goldberg. I say my line wrong and I jump on his line or something and he spears me. It's not really conducive to a healthy acting relationship. I'm there for him; he doesn't have to spear me."

Arquette is quick to add that he is in "awe" of them, "Everything's a lot harder than you think it is — the ring, the ropes, the mat. They are really skilled professionals and I have the utmost respect for what they do."

Arquette was likewise thrilled to be working with director Robbins, "I've been so impressed with Brian. He's one of the most innovative and talented young directors that I've worked with. He keeps the story true and the characters real, which is so important. This movie has lived up to my wildest dreams and I'm honored to be able to work with such great actors and the amazing wrestlers, and, of course, with Brian."

Casting the role of Jimmy King, the flawed hero who falls from grace, was more of a challenge for director Robbins. "Oliver Platt wasn't the first actor we thought of," confesses Robbins. "I always considered him an intellectual actor and I just couldn't imagine him as a wrestler."

Believing he could create the larger than life character of Jimmy King, Platt arranged a meeting with Robbins and immediately impressed him by doing what Robbins describes as "this whole wrestling persona, a Southern Elvis thing that worked wonderfully."

"Oliver is the only actor I've ever worked with whom I literally can't look at when I'm off camera because I don't want to screw him up by laughing in his face," says Scott Caan. "He's just hysterical. Everything he does kills me."

Creating the character of the legendary Jimmy King required an incredible amount of physical preparation for Platt, including months of wrestling training. "I was terribly out of shape when I got the part," admits Platt, who worked twice as hard in order to perform some of his own stunts.

Guided by veteran stunt coordinator Joel Kramer and WCW star Chris Kanyon, who served as fight coordinator, Platt focused on learning several wrestling maneuvers, including King's signature move, "the crown." "Oliver was amazing to work with," says Kanyon, "constantly giving his all and constantly pushing himself beyond the limits. His work in the ring was totally impressive."

After reading the script for the first time, Kramer realized he needed a fight coordinator who knew the ins and outs of professional wrestling. After just one meeting Kramer knew that Chris Kanyon, a star in his own right at WCW's Monday Nitro events and a consummate wrestler, was the "man who could choreograph this show." "Chris does it all," says Kramer. "I couldn't have done this movie without him."

Requiring several months of preparation, Kramer and Kanyon sat down and wrote out all of the fight sequences in the script, choreographing each move to coincide with camera placement and the limitations of a movie set. The moves then had to be rehearsed and timed so the director and director of photography, Clark Mathis, could figure out camera moves.

Their challenge was to choreograph and stage scenes equal to the excitement of televised wrestling matches while maintaining a high level of safety for the actors. "In the ring, they're throwing punches and stopping punches and you can get hurt," says Kramer, "whereas in the movies, we can miss by eight inches to a foot. That's one of the things we changed to make the fight sequences look more realistic while also being safe, by making punches that work for the camera. That's a luxury you don't have in wrestling because their cameras are all over. Now, we can set them in specific places to make an impact shot of a punch or a throw. We can put the audience in the driver's seat and give it that much more impact."

WCW also provided such superstars of the wrestling world whom, as Kramer points out, "you can't double. There are just no stunt people in Hollywood that can do what these guys do. That's why we're using the real McCoys."

"Ready To Rumble" features some of WCW's most dramatic and intriguing wrestling superstars and their styles, such as the acrobatics of Juventud Guerrero, Kidman, Konnan and Rey Mysterio, Jr., the brute force of Booker, Sid Vicious and Bam Bam Bigelow, and favorites of the ring, Sting and Disco Inferno. The film also features the Nitro Girls, whose sizzling dance routines add to the spectacle that has made professional wrestling such a widespread phenomenon.

Silver remembers that the appearance of Goldberg created a frenzy for the production's 5,000 extras during a wrestling match scene, "They just spontaneously started shouting 'Gold-berg! Gold-berg! Gold-berg!' He came out and it was really amazing. He projects a kind of superman quality — this clean-livin', straight-shootin' guy. And he does a wonderful job on the movie."

"I think this could easily be the start of a long career in features for Goldberg," adds Newmyer. "He has that type of charisma on camera."

Producer Silver notes that the wrestlers had to adapt to the vastly different demands of filmmaking, "Diamond Dallas Page had to do his stunts over and over again and his first comment to me when he understood that our first scene in the movie was a seven-minute wrestling scene was that he didn't understand why it wasn't going to take maybe seven or eight minutes to film. Five days into shooting he came to me and said, 'I get it now.'"

"A movie like this is harder than an actual match because you go through all that physical torture and then have to stop, reset, get cold, and then do it all over again," says Page.

"Diamond Dallas Page is incredible," says Robbins. "I couldn't imagine making this movie without him. Not only is he a great wrestler and his endurance is so tremendous, but he's been an enormous help and sort of an adviser in keeping it authentic and keeping it real. He's just been a pleasure and he's a good actor."

Platt adds, "Page has got a tremendous amount of presence. He really understands what makes it work and is a great teacher. He helped me out a lot in the ring, not just to make me look like a real wrestler, but he also helped me not hurt him."

Also invaluable in creating the reality of the wrestling phenomenon was the work of production designer Jaymes Hinkle. Hinkle's goal was to "create something that was spectacular, not just for wrestling fans but also for filmgoers. We wanted to make it more real with lots of visual impact."

Hinkle attended several wrestling events and watched wrestling films, drawing from everything he saw, both good and bad, to create Jimmy King's environment, which included making locations in and around Los Angeles look like Wyoming, New York, Georgia and Las Vegas.

Hinkle also formed what he calls "a true collaborative effort" with costume designer Carol Ramsey, with whom he worked to create the world of Jimmy King. "Carol had some fabulous ideas," recalls Hinkle, "and came up with a really great costume that properly reflects King's personality, where he's been and where he's going." Hinkle was also responsible for creating a "history" for King that included magazine covers, posters and a logo.

In addition to his invaluable contributions as fight coordinator and stunt double for Oliver Platt, Chris Kanyon is also credited with coming up with the idea for the "triple cage," the fantastic set piece that is critical to the film's exciting final fight.

After reading the script, director Robbins realized he needed to come up with something "fantastic" for the end of the movie. While cages have been used for years in wrestling matches, a triple cage had only been used once. "All the films we looked at involving cages," explained Robbins, "were either single or double cages that weren't used to the degree we wanted to portray in the film." After meeting with Robbins, Kanyon and Kramer, Jaymes Hinkle went to work and "within 30 minutes had a sketch."

The next challenge was not only how to build it, but how to make it practical and safe enough for the wrestlers to perform the dangerous stunt. The end result is a three tiered, wedding cake-shaped steel technical wonder. "Having done rock n' roll shows I knew we could use a truss," says Hinkle. "And we more or less built a giant tinker toy set that works. It's a fully functional set that everybody can play on like a trampoline. It's basically a jungle gym for wrestlers."

The film's climactic final match was shot at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in front of 5,000 screaming extras. "You didn't have to direct these extras," remembers producer Silver. "They knew exactly what to do."

Diamond Dallas Page was instrumental in keeping the level of excitement high for their "audience." "He was out there acting between takes as an emcee, giving away raffle prizes, getting the crowd to chant," Silver remembers. "It was like having an assistant director and a nightclub host all at the same time. It was really amazing."

"I am in awe of these wrestlers," says Martin Landau. "I mean, taking those body slams and bouncing and around and just doing it again and again and again. I mean, kidneys weren't built for that. But they do it because it's drama. It's like Shakespeare, like opera. You've got good guys and bad guys and the audience can really get into that. Plus, they have the chance to be vociferous and noisy and really get out a lot of pent up feelings. This movie has done a very successful job of that very thing that makes wrestling such an exceptional experience."

"This movie really has a heart," adds Arquette. "It has so many different levels — a lot of excitement and a lot of adventure, plus this whole world of wrestling and wrestling fans. It has elements of romance and elements of friendship and going after your dreams, and it really has a heart to it, on top of being just a really funny comedy. And we've been having the best time making it, which I'm sure will come out on the screen."

Warner Bros. Presents In Association with Bel-Air Entertainment An Outlaw Production In Association with Tollin/Robbins Productions, David Arquette, Oliver Platt and Scott Caan star in "Ready To Rumble." Based on WCW Characters, the film also stars Bill Goldberg, Rose McGowan, Diamond Dallas Page, with Joe Pantoliano and Martin Landau. Written by Steven Brill, "Ready To Rumble" is directed by Brian Robbins. Produced by Bobby Newmyer and Jeffrey Silver, the film is executive produced by Steven Reuther and Mike Tollin. Clark Mathis is the director of photography. Production design is by Jaymes Hinkle. The film is edited by Ned Bastille. "Ready To Rumble" is associate produced by Susan Novick and Co-Produced by Herb Gains, Scott Strauss and John Gatins. Music is by George S. Clinton.