MICAH FITZERMAN-BLUE & NOAH HARPSTER WILL SERVE AS CO-SHOWRUNNERS FOR WWE® AND BLUMHOUSE LIMITED SERIES
The United States of America Vs. Vince McMahon
Los Angeles, Calif. – March 30, 2022 – Emmy nominated writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster will serve as co-showrunners and will write/executive produce the limited series The United States of America Vs. Vince McMahon for WWE® and Blumhouse Television. Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Peabody Award and multiple Writers Guild Award nominations for Comedy Series for Transparent. They received a WGA nomination for Adapted Screenplay and won a Humanitas Prize for Drama Feature Film for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2020), starring Tom Hanks. Their upcoming limited series Painkiller starring Matthew Broderick and Uzo Aduba about the beginning of the opioid crisis will premiere later this year on Netflix.
“Blumhouse is thrilled to be partnering with Noah and Micah on this project. Their ability to bring iconic characters to life in a nuanced, dramatic, and fully realized way is the reason they are the perfect fit to tell the story of The United States Vs. Vince McMahon,” said Chris McCumber, President, Blumhouse Television.
“Vince McMahon is a living legend. We are thrilled to tell his larger than life story with our partners at Blumhouse and WWE,” said Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster.
Blumhouse and WWE announced development of the series last year which will be the first-ever scripted dramatic portrayal of a chapter in WWE’s history and the first scripted portrayal of McMahon as well as many of the legendary Superstars of that era. Set in the 1990s, a time when WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon was repeatedly censured by infamous New York Post writer Phil Mushnick whose columns eventually drew the attention of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York – the nation’s most prestigious federal prosecutor’s office with a conviction rate of over 96 percent. McMahon was indicted by the U.S. government for allegedly supplying anabolic steroids to WWE talent, stood trial after refusing to take a plea, but was unanimously acquitted by the jury.
Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold will also executive produce.
Fitzerman-Blue is represented by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, UTA, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, Feldman & Clark. Harpster is represented by Mosaic, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, UTA, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler, Feldman & Clark.
About Blumhouse
Blumhouse is a multimedia company regarded as the driving force in the horror renaissance. The company has produced over 150 movies and television series with theatrical grosses amounting to over $4.8 billion. In film, the company has produced iconic, genre, film franchises like Halloween, Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and prolific films like Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man; Glass, The Visit and Split from M. Night Shyamalan; Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman; Get Outfrom Jordan Peele; among several others. The television company operates in horror programming - with streaming anthology series like Welcome to the Blumhouse for Amazon and a slate of horror/thriller films for Epix - and has also expanded beyond genre with provocative and acclaimed scripted and unscripted series and documentaries, such as The Thing About Pam, starring two-time Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger, for NBC; The Horror of Dolores Roach, starring Justina Machado, for Amazon; The Good Lord Bird, starring Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke, for Showtime; The Jinx for HBO; and lauded HBO series Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson, among others.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live event, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 30 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX Sports, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all premium live events, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
Media Contacts:
Blumhouse
Milady Flores
310-528-5262
milady@Blumhouse.com
WWE
Chuck Kingsbury
203-352-8701
Chuck.Kingsbury@wwecorp.com
Trademarks: All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks relating to: the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business, results of operations and financial condition; entering, maintaining and renewing major distribution agreements; a rapidly evolving media landscape; WWE Network (including the risk that we are unable to attract, retain and renew subscribers); our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment; the continued importance of key performers and the services of Vincent K. McMahon; possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives; the highly competitive, rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and greater financial resources or marketplace presence of many of our competitors; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; the complexity of our rights agreements across distribution mechanisms and geographical areas; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events including without limitation, claims alleging traumatic brain injury; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our feature film business; our expansion into new or complementary businesses and/or strategic investments; our computer systems and online operations; privacy norms and regulations; a possible decline in general economic conditions and disruption in financial markets; our accounts receivable; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; litigation; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance, which could adversely affect our stock; Vincent K. McMahon exercises control over our affairs, and his interests may conflict with the holders of our Class A common stock; a substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could lower our stock price; and the volatility of our Class A common stock. In addition, our dividend is dependent on a number of factors, including, among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital), our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends (including under our revolving credit facility), general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business, please refer to the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of the Company’s SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
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