Todd Phillips Says His Hulk Hogan Biopic With Chris Hemsworth Isn’t Happening

Todd Phillips’ planned Hulk Hogan biopic starring Chris Hemsworth is no more, according to the director. It was reported back in 2019 that Phillips was set to direct the biopic from a script by Scott Silver and John Pollono, with Hemsworth playing the controversial WWE Hall of Famer. Phillips told Variety in a feature article published on Wednesday that the film is not happening.

“I love what we were trying to do,” the Joker director told the outlet. But that’s not going to come together for me.”

Hogan himself threw doubt on the project’s hopes back in October 2023 when he said that Netflix, who were producing the film, “missed the date, you know, as far as a business situation.” He had said that he hoped Phillips and Hemsworth still wanted to be involved at the time. Hemsworth said in May that the film would be “tricky,” noting:

“If there was a green light, I’d get to work on it. But it’s interesting… It’s a tricky thing to play a real-life character. I’ve done it once before, and people immediately have the measuring stick out and the critiques and so on. It’d be nerve-wracking, but if there’s a great script and a story to tell, I’d love to jump into it. But there’s nothing official at this point.“”

There is a separate film about Hogan in the works, titled Killing Gawker and centering on Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker over his leaked sex tape. Gus Van Sant is attached to direct the film, with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company set to produce. That film is based on Ryan Holiday’s book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue.