Film Company Buys Theatrical Distribution Rights for WWE's 'No One Lives'

Film site Variety reported earlier today that production company Anchor Bay Films recently purchased the rights to upcoming WWE Studios movie No One Lives.

Variety writes:

"Distributor will release the pic theatrically in North America, the U.K. and Australia, and handle the homevideo release across various platforms."

The horror flick, which features current star Brodus Clay in a supporting role, revolves around a young couple being chased by a gang of violent criminals. Rising star Luke Evans (last seen in The Raven and soon to appear in the upcoming Hobbit trilogy from Peter Jackson) takes on the lead role.

Cult name Ryuhei Kitamura (his work includes oddly-titled films like Samurai Zombie and The Midnight Meat Train) directed the film, which premiered at this year's famous Toronto International Film Festival, with newcomer David Cohen providing the script.  

This is not WWE's first foray into the horror genre. The first ever film from WWE Studios, 2006's See No Evil, was a slasher picture starring Kane as demented killer Jacob Goodnight.

While it performed respectably in theaters when it was released, WWE Studios chose to stay away from the horror field for a while, instead focusing on action and comedy films.

(That said, I'm pretty sure 2010's Knucklehead, a supposed "comedy" film starring The Big Show, probably qualifies as a horror just in terms of its ability to frighten and emotionally scar the viewer through its sheer awfulness. Never mind The Shining or Scream; watch this instead for scares on Halloween.)

WWE has recently been brought back into the fold, though: They produced and filmed Barricade, a psychological horror film starring Will and Grace's Eric McCormack that was released straight-to-DVD in September. The Day, a post-apocalyptic slasher film, was released the month prior to that; notably, that film was also distributed by Anchor Bay Films.  

WWE has also acquired the rights to a script called Bermuda, a horror film focusing on the left over film from a documentary crew who disappeared after setting out to investigate the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. This may be the company's attempt to cash in on the current "found-footage" genre, which has taken off in recent times due to the huge success of the Paranormal Activity films.