There aren’t many in the world of wrestling who have captivated fans quite like Macho Man Randy Savage, who was one of the biggest personalities in wrestling over the course of his 30-year career. Savage’s star power transcended the ring as well, leading to mainstream crossover that makes him a household name to this day, regardless of whether or not you ever watched wrestling. Now the late legend will be getting a big screen spotlight courtesy of a new biopic from an unexpected SNL favorite, and it seems like this one could succeed where the Hulk Hogan biopic could not.
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In a new report from Deadline, SNL favorite Kenan Thompson and Johnny Ryan Jr. are developing a feature biopic on Savage through their production company Artists for Artists, and the project is currently titled Macho. The project is based on a complete script by Savage’s late brother, Lanny Poffo, and Eric Shapiro, and the project will be produced by Thompson, Ryan Jr., and Midas Entertainment Group’s Paul Coy Allen.
Thompson and Ryan Jr. are both longtime fans of Randy Savage, and Thompson actually worked with Savage during his Nickelodeon days in 1999. Both Thompson and Ryan Jr. are excited to bring Savage’s bigger-than-life star power to the big screen as well as the ’80s wrestling scene.
In a statement, Ryan Jr. said, “Macho Man Randy Savage was the greatest showman of all time and the OG bad boy of entertainment. His outfits were as electric as his personality and he’s so much more than an artist, he’s an icon. Lanny and Eric did a great job capturing this story and the crazy 80s wrestling era that turnt wrestling figures into lifelong pop culture icons.”
Thompson said, “Beyond excited for this one!! Macho Man is hands down one of the greatest of all time and can’t wait to bring his story to the screen!!!”
Midas Entertainment Group’s Allen said, “Some stories come once in a lifetime, not just to be told, but to ignite. MACHO is one of those rare stories that electrifies across generations. We are honored to partner up with AFA and Range Media to share Randy’s story with the world.”
What Happened to the Hulk Hogan Biopic?
There was another high-profile wrestling biopic in development just a few years ago, which was focused on the late Hulk Hogan, and it was being developed at Netflix with Chris Hemsworth attached to play the role of Hogan. That project never made it to production though, as Hogan revealed in 2024 that it had been cancelled due to contract issues revolving around a missed payment.
At the time, the Hogan biopic was being helmed by Todd Phillips, based on a script from Scott Silver. Hogan said the script was “very, very dark”, but also said that it was powerful and could win Hemsworth an Oscar.
“They kind of missed a beat in the contract, yeah [when Patrick Bet-David said Netflix screwed up]. There was a payment that wasn’t placed at the right time. The 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.’ When I read it, I’m like, oh my god, this is really good. At the time, I was in a space where I told him the positive stuff about wrestling,” Hogan said (via ScreenRant).
“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…’ 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 said.
Why It’s the Perfect Time for Macho Man
While many would have tuned into a Hogan biopic, there’s also a host of conflicted feelings and political divisiveness that would come with it. There’s also the fact that Hogan was one of the biggest wrestling stars on the planet, and so many already know his story.
That’s not the case with Savage. While longtime wrestling fans know about his life outside of wrestling and in the ring, there’s a large swath of fans who know who he is but don’t have that additional context. There’s also the fact that while Hogan continued to be pretty public and in the spotlight after his in-ring career ended, there wasn’t as much of a public spotlight on Savage before his sudden death in 2011. Savage has never had his life or career told in this format, and now is the perfect time to change that.
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