WWE News: The Miz Gives Update on the Release Date of 'The Marine: Homefront'

During an interview with The LA Times' website to promote this Sunday's SummerSlam card, Mike "The Miz" Mizanin gave an update on the future release date of his WWE Studios' movie The Marine: Homefront, noting that the film is due out in the spring of next year:

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"The Marine: Homefront" will debut in spring of 2013. I think it will be an absolute incredible movie and I can't wait for its release. It is about a Marine who just got home from a tour and one of his sisters gets kidnapped by terrorists. He then has to go in and save them. I think I play the best Marine of all of them but, of course, that's just my opinion.

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It has been speculated by PWTorch.com this means the movie's release will coincide with next year's WrestleMania 29 festivities, although this has yet to be confirmed. Hornswaggle has claimed in the past WWE Studios' horror reboot Leprechaun: Origins, in which he plays the lead, will be released in March of next year, also co-inciding with WM, and it seems unlikely the company would put out two movies at roughly the same time.

The Marine: Homefront, which is directed by Scott Wiper, who also helmed the disappointing Steve Austin vehicle The Condemned, serves as the third installment of company's popular Marine franchise.

Yes, I used the word "popular" in relation to WWE's struggling film division, Indeed, as Mizanin noted last month in an on-set interview with sports show Clash Time, both The Marine and The Marine 2 made money at the box office, making them two out of only three WWE Studios' films to ever do so.

Company reports reveal 2007's Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia, starring Ken Kennedy, currently Ken Anderson in TNA, was the other one. The Marine, a theatrical release which starred John Cena, was a runaway hit, making millions, while the The Marine 2 and Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia, straight-to-DVD films, made smaller but nonetheless respectable profits. 

It will be interesting to see how the The Marine: Homefront, which will also be straight-to-dvd, performs when it is released next year.

Whatever the flaws of WWE Studios (and there are many), they may have found their niche with low-budget military-themed action movies, and the numbers reflect this.

Indeed, as the low brow but highly lucrative B movie careers of Steven Seagal and Steve Austin, as well the The Expendables franchise show,  there looks to a decent audience for mindlessly violent and entertaining action movies about tough guy soldiers/cops/marines attempting to save the world and beating up/killing anyone who dares get in their way in the process. 

Additionally, former WWE Champion The Miz was seen by many as an odd choice for the role when he was announced as the star, but judging by his bold new look on the film (getting rid of the Faux Mohawk was a huge improvement) and better-than-average acting skills, he may just be able to pull it off.

And considering the wooden-as-a-plank performances some WWE wrestlers have churned out in these films (Mr DiBiase, we're looking at you), it's not like he has much to compete with anyway.