The life of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is heading to the big screen courtesy of Brett Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment, with Ratner spearheading development on a biopic which will “explore Hefner’s metamorphosis from a dreamer raised in a conservative Methodist household, to an icon of the sexual revolution” following the launch of Playboy magazine in 1953.
“Hugh Hefner started a sexual revolution from behind the walls of his legendary mansion by using the pages of Playboy Magazine and his own infamous lifestyle to build a global empire that included publishing, clubs, casinos and television networks,” said Ratner. “Whether young people today read or care about Playboy, this was a guy who had a dream and changed the world. Hefner cared about civil rights, women’s rights, the preservation of the arts, jazz…his magazine featured interviews with important leaders from Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. And with one stroke of genius he changed sexuality in America.”
“In recent years there has been plenty of interest and much conversation about doing a feature film based on my life,” added Hefner. “I have always believed that when the timing was truly right, the perfect creative partners would come together for this project. I believe we’ve found those partners in Brett Ratner and RatPac Entertainment. I’m very much looking forward to this collaboration.”
Ratner was previously attached to a Hefner biopic that was set up at Universal by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer as a musical, with the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Hugh Jackman linked to the role of the Playboy founder.
Originally published April 9, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
