Problems with WWE Films' latest release?

As you probably already know by now, the films division of World Wrestling Entertainment is set to release their latest movie (likely straight to DVD and Blu-Ray), The Marine 3: Homefront. This installment stars former Intercontinental Champion The Miz, and is the latest in The Marine series of films, with WWE hoping to keep this a long-running thing for the moment.

What you may not know is that WWE has been having some problems with this film from the get-go, and they are directly related to the actual United States Marine Corps itself. The latest problem is in regards to a trademarking issue. Apparently, there are some issues with trademarking the name of the film itself. The USMC, for reasons that are unknown at this time, is opposing the trademark, and filed their opposition on September 4th of this year. Their opposition has been granted, and they have had ninety days added to the opposition, keeping them in the clear until December 12th. At that point, they will have to file another should they choose to do so.

This seems to be rather strange thing, considering this is the third movie featuring The Marine title, yet no oppositions were made to either of the first two movies (starring John Cena and Ted DiBiase, Jr., respectively).

This is actually the second major problem WWE’s latest film has run into since it was announced earlier this year. Originally, current Smackdown! star Randy Orton was scheduled to play the title role, and was to begin filming right away. However, the USMC opposed the casting decision and, not wanting to get into trouble with one of its biggest sponsors, WWE pulled Orton from the project and replaced him with the aforementioned Miz.

If you are wondering why Orton was pulled from the project, it actually stems from his time as a Marine. Orton was a member of the USMC in 1998, and one year later, went AWOL (Absence Without Leave) on two separate occasions, receiving a bad conduct discharge in the process. In addition to that, Orton was tried and convicted under a court-martial, and was forced to spend thirty-eight days in a military prison. Because of his behavior, the USMC was understandably upset when Orton was announced for a major role in a film about their division of the armed forces, and immediately began to protest the project altogether. It did not take long before Orton was removed from the project by Vince McMahon, and an apology was also issued.