The death of wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, has brought his biopic to attention, which never saw the day of light, despite A-list cast and big Hollywood names attached to the project. The untitled film was first announced in 2019, with Thor actor Chris Hemsworth on board to play Hogan. Joker director Todd Phillips was supposed to direct and co-write the screenplay with Scott Silver (The Fighter, 8 Mile) and Jon Pollono. Oscar-winning Spotlight producer Michael Sugar was also involved.
The project was almost made at Netflix, and was supposed to focus on the life of Hogan (born Terry Bollea) from his early days as a rising wrestler to gaining fame in the ring followed by the controversies. But unfortunately, it was scrapped.
The Hulk Hogan biopic that never got made
In 2020, in an interview with Total Film, via Comic Book, Hemsworth expressed his excitement to play the rise of Hulkamania on the big screen.
"This movie is going to be a really fun project," he said. "As you can imagine, the preparation for the role will be insanely physical. I will have to put on more size than I ever have before, even more than I put on for Thor. There is the accent as well as the physicality and the attitude."
He added, "I will also have to do a deep dive into the rabbit hole of the wrestling world, which I'm really looking forward to doing," and also said that he'll also have to dye his hair blond and grow a moustache to get into the skin of Hogan's character.
A year later, Hogan shared a picture of Hemsworth where the latter was seen flaunting his massive arms on Instagram and wrote, "My brother has that Hogan Pump on Jack, looks like he could slam Andre brother," referring to late wrestling legend Andre the Giant. The photo was originally posted by Hemsworth while wrapping Thor: Love and Thunder.
Contractual issues with Netflix
Three years later, in an interview with PDB Podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed the film was not happening due to contractual issues with Netflix. He said he loved the script and even believed Hemsworth could win an Oscar.
When asked if Netflix was at fault, Hogan agreed and said, "They kind of missed a beat in the contract," and added, "There was a payment that wasn’t placed at the right time."
"The script was amazing. Scott Silver, who wrote the script for Joker, Wolf of Wall Street, a bunch of other movies, said, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever written.’ When I read it, I’m like, oh my god, this is really good," he said further.
Last year, Phillips confirmed to Variety that the film has been canceled. "I love what we were trying to do, but that's not going to come together for me," he said.
Is Hulk Hogan biopic still happening?
With production delays, major setbacks and now the death of Hulk Hogan, the biopic seems to be not happening anytime soon. However, we would love to see the life of the legendary WWE icon on screen in the future.
