Hulk Hogan's Movie "Killing Gawker" in Development with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity

A movie on Hulk Hogan’s infamous legal battle against Gawker is officially in the works. 

The project, titled “Killing Gawker,” is in active development by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production banner Artists Equity.

The banner has acquired a screenplay by Charles Randolph, which is based on Ryan Holiday’s book “Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue.”

Gus Van Sant, who previously helmed Affleck and Damon’s “Good Will Hunting,” has been tapped to direct. While no casting has been announced at this time, but it is rumored that Affleck will take on the role of the controversial wrestler.

In March 2016, Hogan won a $140 million judgment against Gawker Media, its founder Nick Denton, and one of its editors. The verdict was the result of a lawsuit over Gawker’s publication of an explicit video featuring Hogan but was funded by divisive Silicon Valley businessman Peter Thiel in retaliation to Gawker outing him years earlier. 

In the initial ruling, the jury found that Gawker violated Hogan’s privacy by posting the tape and that he suffered severe emotional distress from the leak. The video, shot five years before it was posted, showed Hogan having intercourse with the then-wife of “shock jock” Bubba the Love Sponge.

Following the ruling, Gawker shut down operations. In July 2021, Gawker relaunched under the ownership of Bustle Digital Group, whose founder and CEO Bryan Goldberg bought the website’s assets for $1.35 million in a 2018 bankruptcy auction. The revival was short-lived as the new Gawker was shut down in February 2023.

Artists’ Equity is behind “Air,” “Kiss the Future,” “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” and the upcoming Cillian Murphy-starrer “Small Things Like These”. Its other projects in development include “The Accountant 2,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “The Instigators”, and “Unstoppable.”

The film has no start date or production schedule.