Netflix is reportedly moving forward with their docuseries on former WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon.
As noted before, it was reported by Denise Salcedo back on July 8 that the un-named McMahon docuseries was no longer on the programming spreadsheet at Netflix, and that a source said, “that shit’s out of here,” following the breaking of the McMahon scandal that led to his WWE retirement. It was noted then that Netflix had already spent millions of dollars on the project, and that the docuseries was already “deep” in post-production with several talent interviews filmed months back.
In an update, a new report from the Wrestling Observer notes that the previous story on the McMahon scandal leading to the cancellation of the Netflix series is not true. Netflix is currently working on the McMahon project with cooperation from WWE.
Chris Smith is still the Director and Executive Producer for the McMahon series, according to the new report. It was originally announced that Smith, who directed Netflix’s Fyre Fest documentary, was producing the docuseries, along with WWE Studios, and that Bill Simmons was the Executive Producer. There’s no word yet on if Simmons is still involved.
The original plan was for each of the four episodes from the McMahon docuseries to cover a specific chapter of his life, but it remains to be seen if the recent scandal and retirement will change plans for the episodes. The McMahon docuseries from Netflix was first revealed by WWE Co-CEO Nick Khan during the Q3 2020 WWE earnings call in October of that year. Khan noted then that WWE signed a “groundbreaking new deal” with Netflix, and that they were selling the docuseries on Vince to Netflix, which was to cover his life. Khan added that the deal was groundbreaking because it was one of the highest-budgeted documentaries in Netflix history.
Word came out back in mid-April that the docuseries was still in production, and that the WrestleMania 38 creative between McMahon and Pat McAfee was likely being added to the final product. There is still no release date or title for the project, but word now is that it is still being worked on.
McMahon retired from WWE on July 22, but remains the main shareholder of the company. For those who missed it, you can
click here for footage and notes on Vince celebrating his 77th birthday in New York City earlier this week.
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