Based in New Orleans, the WWE pro wrestling company has opened their own films division, making movies starring their wrestling superstars.

Last year, for just 6 million dollars they produced 2 films that had (very) small theatrical released and then national DVD distribution (that figure includes marketing).

One of the ways WWE Films keeps cost down is that it never shuts down production. If film "A" finishes on Friday, film "B" starts on Monday with all the same staff except for a few key creative personelle.

Obviously WWE Films has the advantage of a national TV brand and stars with some name recognition, even if not as actors. And this year the studio lost $1 million, although this might be due to the movies being stinkers rather than a flaw in the business model.

For some odd reason WWE Films decided to try to get away from blow-em-up action films into family dramas ("Legendary"), zany comedies ("Knucklehead") and kiddie farces ("The Chaperone"). Most of the studio was funded with profits made from the previous modest action hit "12 Rounds."