Premiering at Sundance this week, Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press was screened for prospective buyers and it looks like Netflix might be taking the documentary to their streaming service. Five outlets made bids on the film, but it looks like Netflix’s $2 million offer was the most lucrative.
Directed by Brian Knappenberger, the film focuses on the legal battle between Hulk Hogan (actual name Terry Bollea) following Gawker’s posting of a sex tape featuring him and a friend’s wife. Hogan sued the site for posting it and a jury ended up awarding him $115 million. Making the case more mysterious, it turns out that Hogan’s legal fees were paid for by PayPal co-founder and billionaire Peter Thiel, who had crossed paths with Gawker before, when they outed him as gay in 2007.
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The suit ended up causing Gawker CEO Nick Denton sell off the site and file for Chapter 11, making the tabloid site shut down. The film covers all the bases of the trial, exploring the exploitative nature of the “news” website, but also covering what the legal battle means for traditional journalism. Most importantly, if news outlets will be afraid to cover certain subjects for fear of financial ramifications.
This film marks the third purchase for Netflix out of Sundance, in addition to the environmental documentary Chasing Coral and Casting JonBenet, which focuses on the highly publicized and mysterious ’90s murder case.
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[H/T Deadline]
