I’ve always thought a movie about professional wrestling could make a great movie. A film that looks at the nuts and bolts of the industry and focuses in on the backstage politics of the sport and at the kind of people who would put their body through so much pain for a living.

But in particular the backstage politics. Anyone who has ever heard of the Bret Hart 1997 Montreal incident or knows the Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler story (as depicted in Man on the Moon) is aware of the kind of tale.. either from fact or made up by a screenwriter… that could make an awesome movie.

The Hollywood Reporter say Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in The Wrestler, a fictional film about an aging star who is drawn in for one last match…

Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a 1980s-era star pro wrestler who has become a burnt-out shell of his former self. After he has a heart attack during a small-time match, a doctor tells him he could die if he fights again.

In an effort to build a new life, Robinson takes a job at a deli, moves in with an aging stripper and tries to build a relationship with her son. But the prospect of a rematch with his old nemesis the Ayatollah proves too tempting to resist, even if it means risking his life.

So once again, it sounds like they aren’t going to be taking wrestling seriously with names like ‘The Ram’.

Could they not have come up with something better?

The movie will be a small Indie flick which Darren Aronofsky’s shingle Protoza Pictures putting it together, with the slight possiblity that Aronofsky might helm it himself… although it’s unlikely with him doing the boxing movie The Fighter. The script comes from Robert Siegel.

This could be good I guess, but it needs to show wrestling in a more realistic and positive light than what has gone on before in previous films and some backstage politics added into the mix is needed to distinguish it from a boxing flick.