Killing Gawker is the name of a reported film project about Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker, not a released or actively produced Hulk Hogan biopic. Artists Equity acquired Charles Randolph’s screenplay in 2024; Parade reported in July 2025 that the project had been shelved before active production. The case behind it involved a $140 million jury award that was later resolved in a $31 million settlement.
What is the status of Killing Gawker?
Artists Equity acquired a screenplay by Charles Randolph in 2024. Variety reported that Gus Van Sant was in talks to direct. The screenplay was reported to draw on Ryan Holiday’s nonfiction book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue.
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In July 2025, Parade reported that Artists Equity had shelved plans for the film and that it had not entered active production. That is the latest reported status established here; it does not rule out the project being revived later.
What happened in Hogan’s case against Gawker?
Gawker published excerpts from a sex tape involving Terry Bollea, the wrestler known as Hulk Hogan. Hogan sued over the publication. A Florida jury awarded him $140 million in 2016, but that was not the amount ultimately paid: the parties later settled for $31 million, according to the Associated Press.
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| Event | Amount | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 jury award | $140 million | The amount awarded by the jury, as reported by the Associated Press in 2025. |
| Later settlement | $31 million | The amount the parties agreed to in settlement, as reported by the Associated Press in 2025. |
The litigation contributed to Gawker’s bankruptcy and the end of its operations. The dispute also raised a broader tension: the harm and privacy interests at stake in publishing intimate material versus the press’s freedom to report on matters of public interest. Those questions frame the story, but they are distinct from the jury’s award and the parties’ later settlement.
What was Peter Thiel’s role?
Peter Thiel acknowledged funding Hogan’s case and other lawsuits against Gawker. Contemporary reporting connected his involvement to a 2007 Gawker story about Thiel’s sexuality. That reported connection should not be treated as a legal finding about his motive.
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Is this the same as an untitled Hulk Hogan biopic?
The project identified in reports as Killing Gawker concerns the Gawker litigation and the events around it. Calling it an “untitled Hulk Hogan biopic” can blur it with other reported Hogan projects; the available information does not establish that those projects are the same film.
The Associated Press reported in July 2025 that Hogan died at age 71. The reported Killing Gawker screenplay was acquired the year before his death, and the project had been reported shelved before entering production.
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What can you read or watch about the story?
The book behind the screenplay
Holiday’s Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue is the nonfiction book reported as the screenplay’s source. Check the current edition and availability with a bookseller.
A related documentary
Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press examines the case and its implications for journalism. TheWrap reported that Netflix acquired the documentary after Sundance; that report does not establish current streaming availability or whether it is available on physical media.
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