By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

WWE Studios's fifth theatrical release, "Legendary," will be out in theaters today on a "limited release" basis.

The movie, which stars John Cena, will be released in 100-200 theaters across the U.S. and will only be in theaters for a short period of time.

As part of WWE Studios's new strategy to produce low-budget, family-oriented dramas and comedies with WWE wrestlers in supporting roles, WWE is shortening the time between the movie and DVD release.

WWE's stated goal is to extend the marketing effort from the theatrical release without having to "re-start" promotion when the movie is released on DVD.

-- The complete list of theaters showing the movie can be found on legendarythemovie.com.

Reviews

WWE Studios sent out advanced copies of the movie to be screened by critics. The movie has not received strong advanced reviews, however.

Roger Ebert, the famous movie critic, reviewed "Legendary" in the Chicago Sun-Times and gave the movie two stars. Ebert noted the formulaic nature of the movie's script and lack of character development for some of the supporting characters.

The movie is currently scoring a low 17/100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates movie reviews.

-- READ MORE: Caldwell's advanced review of "Legendary".

WWE Appearances

WWE wrestlers and Divas will be appearing at theaters across the U.S. on Friday promoting the movie's opening weekend and signing autographs to attract people to theaters.

The deal is that autograph-seekers have to purchase a movie ticket to meet & greet the wrestler or Diva appearing. The list of appearances on Friday is as follows:

-- Wilmette Theatre in Wilmette, Ill.: Hornswoggle will be appearing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

-- Mission Valley Cinema in Raleigh, N.C.: R-Truth will be appearing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

-- Laemmle's Monica 4-plex in Santa Monica, Calif.: Eve will be appearing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

-- Clearview First and 62nd Cinemas in New York City: Smackdown announcer Matt Striker will be appearing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Striker wasn't kidding when he said on Superstars that he would be at the theater on Friday.

-- Channelside Cinemas Stadium in Tampa, Fla.: Beth Phoenix will be appearing from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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