Films, News, Women Directors

Lexi Alexander Returning to Film to Direct Wrestling Biopic “Crossface”

Alexander: Aaron Goodwin/Courtesy of Lexi Alexander/NPR
Credit: Aaron Goodwin/Courtesy of Lexi Alexander/NPR

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lexi Alexander has signed on to direct “Crossface,” the story of wrestler Chris Benoit. Alexander will helm the adaptation of the book “Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry” by Matthew Randazzo V.

The story, the announcement details, follows “WWE superstar Chris Benoit as he struggles to maintain his family life, while the pressures of wrestling cause him to spiral out of control. Benoit was a well respected, world champion wrestler, who, over the course of a weekend in June 2007, murdered his wife and son before taking his own life. It was later discovered that Benoit was posthumously diagnosed with CTE, severe brain degeneration, believed to be associated with his career as a wrestler.”

Alexander will direct from a script by Jake Goldberger and Sarah Coulter.

Alexander, who earned an Oscar nomination for her short film “Johnny Flynton,” was the first female director to helm a major comic book film when she took on Marvel’s “Punisher: War Zone.” She also directed “Green Street Hooligans,” which won Best of the Fest and a Special Jury Award at SXSW. Since then, she has turned to television, directing episodes of “Limitless,” “Supergirl,” and “Arrow,” and didn’t think she would venture back to the film world.

“I was pretty certain I’d stay in TV rather than returning to the feature world,” Alexander said in a statement, “because the material just seems so much better in TV, especially in drama, but then ‘Crossface’ came my way. A heartbreaking, true story about the dark side of wrestling…I couldn’t say no to that.”

As a World Karate and Kickboxing Champion and an expert in mixed martial arts herself, the subject matter no doubt appealed to her.


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