Hunger Games Director Tapped For Gawker v. Hulk Hogan Movie

Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is set to direct a film based on the Gawker v. Hulk Hogan trial. THR reports that Lawrence (I Am Legend, Red Sparrow) will helm the movie, which is based on the book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday. Charles Randolph (The Big Short) is writing the script for the film.

The movie will dramatize the trial of Bollea v. Gawker, which saw Hulk Hogan sue Gawker over the publication of portions of a sex tape with Hogan and Heather Clem, the wife of radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge. Hogan sued for invasion of privacy, infringement of personality rights, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After a two-week trial he was awarded $115 million in compensatory damages. In the midst of the lawsuit, a transcript from the tape leaked to the media which depicted Hogan going on a racial tirade that cost him his position with WWE.

“When I read Ryan’s extraordinary book I was totally taken with this story, such an exquisitely contemporary tale, and I immediately had a vision for it as a film,” Francis Lawrence said. “It’s an important and meaningful story, and one I’m excited to tell. I’m thrilled to come aboard and to work with this team.”