The Gawker vs Hulk Hogan trial is to become a movie

The Hulk Hogan lawsuit that caused the closure of celebrity website Gawker is to be made into a movie.

Francis Lawrence, who helmed the Hunger Games movies along with recent Jennifer Lawrence movie Red Sparrow, is on board to direct.

The movie will follow the events detailed in the book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, And The Anatomy of Intrigue, with Charles Randolph, who penned The Big Short, on adaptation duties.

The former wrestler, real name Terry Gene Bollea, sued Gawker Media after it posted parts of a sex tape on its site in 2012.

Peter Thiel, the billionaire behind Paypal, helped to fund the lawsuit, said to be in retaliation for the site outing him in 2007.

Following a two week trial, it was ruled that the site would pay Bollea $115 million in damages, which eventually resulted in Gawker Media going bust in 2016.

The result was both condemned by advocates of press freedom and praised by those who deemed the decision as a blow against press intrusion.

As yet, there’s no word on who could play Bollea in the movie.

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