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New York Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Will Hulk Hogan still get a posthumous biopic starring Chris Hemsworth?
Hulk Hogan never got the biopic treatment while he was alive. The WWE legend, who died Thursday at age 71, was supposed to be played by Chris Hemsworth in a Netflix movie, but the project was scrapped entirely by the time Hogan passed away. TMZ reported that the pro-wrestler died after 'a cardiac arrest' call was placed from his home in Clearwater, Florida. 11 Hulk Hogan at the Comedy Central Roast Of David Hasselhoff in 2010. Getty Images The biopic about Hogan was first announced by Netflix in February 2019, with Hemsworth, 41, to star and Todd Phillips set to direct. The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time that John Pollono and Scott Silver were writing the script. Silver, 60, and Phillips, 54, co-wrote Joaquin Phoenix's 'Joker,' which came out that same year. 11 Chris Hemsworth at the 'Limitless: Live Better Now' UK premiere in London on July 17. FilmMagic 11 Todd Phillips attends the BAFTA Los Angeles Tea Party in Beverly Hills in January 2020. Getty Images for BAFTA LA The biopic, per Deadline, was going to 'center on the rise of Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, and his 'Hulkamania' both in wrestling and as a pop culture icon.' The outlet also confirmed that Hogan's life rights were acquired in the deal and that he joined the project as a consultant and executive producer. However, years went by, and no progress was made on the film, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic causing production delays in Hollywood in 2020. 11 Hulk Hogan on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' in 1994. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Hemsworth gave an update on potentially playing Hogan on the big screen in a June 2023 interview with Chris Van Vliet. 'Let's hope. I don't know what is happening with it at this point,' the 'Thor' star stated. 'But there is a good story there I would love to tell.' 'I know Todd Phillips has been deep with The Joker and we have had conversations,' Hemsworth added. 'Fingers crossed.' 11 Chris Hemsworth in 'Thor: Love and Thunder.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection A year later, Phillips officially confirmed that the biopic was dead. 'I love what we were trying to do, but that's not going to come together for me,' the director told Variety in August 2024 while promoting 'Joker 2.' During an appearance on the 'PDB Podcast' in October 2024, Hogan explained why his biopic never came to fruition. 11 Hulk Hogan at the premiere of 'War Of The Worlds' in June 2005. Getty Images 11 Hulk Hogan and Tony Atlas wrestling. Corbis via Getty Images 'They kind of missed a beat in the contract. There was a payment that wasn't placed at the right time,' he claimed nine months before his death, adding that the film's 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,'' Hogan recalled. 'When I read it, I went, 'Oh my god, this is really good.'' The '3 Ninjas' star continued: 'At the time, I was in a space where I told him the positive stuff about wrestling and the negative stuff about wrestling. Spent about three years with this writer going back and forth. When I read it, it was just very, very dark, if that would be the right word. But it was probably what the public may want to see. When I read it I was like, 'Oh my gosh, if this thing comes out…'' 11 Hulk Hogan speaks onstage during the 2024 Republican National Convention. Getty Images 11 Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Marvel. ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection 'There was talk that Chris Hemsworth had never played a real person before and he could probably win an Oscar, this thing is so powerful,' Hogan added. But Hogan explained that he was worried the biopic would ultimately be 'the last thing people remember me for.' 'So I just was moving forward at the time, and when they business-wise missed a date, there was an option for me to pull out — and I did,' he revealed. 11 Hulk Hogan in the wrestling ring during his Hulkamania Tour in 2009. Getty Images The sports icon said at the time that he would still do the film with the same script, but acknowledged there's other avenues to share his life story. 'There's also documentary, a check and balance system, there's also a four-hour block of TV like the OJ [Simpson] stuff to tell the real story,' Hogan noted. 'The check and balance system, what it did do was it took me right up to the time I turned bad guy. Until I turned into 'Hollywood Hogan.' So if this movie did blow through the roof that they expected it would, then there would be another one which would be really cool.' 11 Hulk Hogan at Maple Leaf Gardens in Canada. Toronto Star via Getty Images Hogan also made it clear he wanted 'creative control' over his biopic and that the film needed to 'be a balance.' When the host asked Hogan if someone could make a film about him without his permission, the WWE legend replied, 'They can do it, but they could be in a really bad position legally if they don't have me involved.' 'There's so many hills and valleys when you do something without someone's permission,' he added. The Post reached out to Netflix and Hemsworth for comment.
New York Post
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Jackie Chan, 71, reveals when he'll retire
Talk about fearless. Jackie Chan recently revealed when he plans to retire from his decades-long acting career – and it isn't anytime soon. The 'Rush Hour' star opened up about his eventual retirement, or lack thereof, on Tuesday during a new interview with Haute Living about his upcoming movie, 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Despite being 71 years old and following concerns about his health, the legendary martial artist revealed that he still performs his own stunts and always will. 8 Jackie Chan has revealed when he plans to retire from his more than 60-year acting career Getty Images for BAFTA LA 8 The martial artist and actor opened up about his eventual retirement on Tuesday, May 6, during a new interview about his upcoming movie, 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Getty Images 'Of course, I always do my own stunts. It's who I am,' he insisted. 'That's not changing until the day I retire, which is never!' 'When you've done it for 64 years straight, there's no physical preparation anymore,' Chan continued. 'Everything is in your heart and soul; it is muscle memory.' Elsewhere in the interview, the 'Armour of God' actor detailed how far action sequences have come since 1962, when he first started in the biz. 8 Jackie Chan in a scene from the 1979 film 'The Fearless Hyena.' Courtesy Everett Collection 'In the old days, the only way was to be there and jump; that's it,' Chan explained. 'Today, with computers, actors can do anything, but there's always a sense of reality that you feel is missing.' He also called the technological advancements a 'double-edged sword.' 'On one hand, actors become more and more capable of doing impossible stunts with the help of technology,' Chan said, 'and yet, on the other hand, the concept of danger and limit gets blurred and the audience is numb.' 8 Jackie Chan in 1985. ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection 8 Jackie Chan in 2023. Courtesy Everett Collection However, the 'Rumble in the Bronx' star admitted that performing one's own stunts is 'dangerous.' 'But I'm not encouraging anybody to risk their lives to do the stunts like I did,' Chan said, 'It truly is too dangerous.' Chan's acting career kicked off with the Cantonese film 'Big and Little Wong Tin Bar' when he appeared as an extra at age 8. 8 Jackie Chan delivering a speech at the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards in February 2025. Getty Images for Critics Choice Association Ten years later, he served as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee martial arts films 'Fist of Fury' (1972) and 'Enter the Dragon' (1973). It wasn't until 1978 when Chan, then 24, gained widespread fame for his roles in the action-comedy films 'Drunken Master' and 'Snake in Eagle's Shadow.' He later garnered the attention of US audiences with 1995's 'Rumble in the Bronx' and, finally, 'Rush Hour' in 1998. 8 Jackie Chan in a scene from the 2023 film 'Hidden Strike.' Courtesy Everett Collection 'Hollywood is the place to be, no matter how big you are in your own country,' Chan said in 2010 shortly after starring as Kung Fu master Mr. Han in 'The Karate Kid' reboot. 'There, you become an international star.' 'In Hollywood, at the beginning, I had no choice but now I pick up whatever I like,' he continued at the time. 'I am pretty lucky – now I can do whatever I want. When you are getting bigger in Hollywood, you can go, 'No, I don't want to do this, I like this and that!'' Chan is set to reprise the role of Mr. Han when 'Karate Kid: Legends' hits theaters on May 30. 8 Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan are both set to reprise their 'Karate Kid' roles in the upcoming 'Karate Kid: Legends.' AP Ralph Macchio, who played Daniel LaRusso in four 'Karate Kid' films and its Netflix spinoff series, 'Cobra Kai,' is also set to reprise his role. 'I was for sure super excited,' Chan said of playing Mr. Han again after more than a decade. 'It's been almost 15 years!'
