Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White are ready to step into the ring.
A24 has released the first trailer for The Iron Claw, the highly anticipated wrestling drama about the legendary Von Erich family. Sean Durkin wrote and directed the film, which chronicles how the brothers rose to fame in the competitive world of pro wrestling, only to face tragedy both inside and outside of the ring.
Of the six Von Erich brothers, five pursued professional wrestling, racking up a number of impressive titles. The eldest, Jack, died in a childhood accident. Efron stars as the oldest surviving brother, Kevin, and the cast also includes White as Kerry Von Erich, Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich, and Stanley Simons as Mike Von Erich. Lily James also stars as Kevin’s wife Pam.
‘The Iron Claw’. A24
Maura Tierney plays the boys’ mother Doris, while Mindhunter star Holt McCallany appears as their imposing father Fritz, who built his own wrestling career in the 1960s and later pushed his sons to follow in his footsteps. In fact, the Von Erich moniker comes from Fritz’s stage name, when he first wrestled as fictional Nazi heel. It was the elder Von Erich who popularized the family’s signature move: the Iron Claw, where a wrestler grips his opponent’s face and squeezes with all five fingers.
Each of the Von Erich brothers found fame as they pursued pro wrestling, but their lives were also marked by tragedy, sparking rumors that the family was afflicted by the so-called “Von Erich curse.”
“Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed,” Efron’s Kevin says in the trailer. “Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling. He said if we were the toughest, strongest, nothing would ever hurt us. I believed it. We all did.”
Despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, The Iron Claw has been cleared for an interim agreement, allowing its actors to publicly promote the film.
The Iron Claw will hit theaters Dec. 22. Watch the trailer above