Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company Artists Equity has acquired a screenplay by Charles Randolph adapting Ryan Holiday’s book “Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue,” according to media reports.
The nonfiction release detailed professional wrestler Hulk Hogan’s legal battle against Gawker that led to the website shuttering and cofounder Nick Denton filing for bankruptcy. The legal proceedings were funded by Silicon Valley conservative Peter Thiel, who was mad at Gawker for outing him as gay, many years earlier.
The project, currently titled “Killing Gawker,” will be directed by Gus Van Sant, who really kicked off Affleck and Damon’s career in earnest with “Good Will Hunting,” which won the two an Oscar for their original screenplay.
While casting hasn’t been solidified, Affleck is rumored to play the Hogan role.
This all stemmed from a 2012 post on Gawker that featured a clip of a sex tape of Hogan and Heather Clem, the wife of radio personality Todd Alan Clem (aka Bubba the Love Sponge). Denton cited the First Amendment for keeping it up, even defying a judge’s order to take down the clip.
In 2016, Hogan won a $140 million judgement against Gawker. Hogan was awarded $55 million for economic harm and $60 million for emotional distress, and later was awarded another $25 million in punitive damages. Gawker reached a $31 million settlement. While Gawker shuttered, many of its other websites continued to operate. Gawker was briefly revived in 2021 but shut down in February 2023.
Artists Equity’s “The Instigator,” which stars Damon and Affleck’s brother Casey, hits Apple TV+ later this week.
Variety first reported the news.
