Eric Bischoff Casts Doubt On Netflix Hulk Hogan Biopic With New Comments

We have known that a Hulk Hogan biopic was a possibility as far back as 2013. Then, in 2019, word leaked that Chris Hemsworth has agreed to portray Hogan in the film. That excitement caused wrestling fans to expect the product in the near future, and some recent photos that surfaced of Hemsworth getting jacked only added to the speculation. However, during a recent edition of his podcast, Eric Bischoff pumped the brakes on expectations for the project right now.

Bischoff signed on as an executive director for the project, and he cautioned during the podcast that people are getting a little ahead of themselves with expectations. He stressed that the project is still in development rather than production.

"The information about this movie was never supposed to make the press, although Chris has done some interviews and made some very broad references to the project... there's no official statement," said Bischoff.

"The project is still technically in development, meaning it's not scheduled for production. There's no casting going on. There's no scheduling going on. It's still in, I would say, the late stages of development. So, it's not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination. I wish it was, because I'd be out looking for a new truck. But it's not."

Both Hogan and Bischoff are serving as executive producers, and Bischoff said during the podcast that most of his work on the project has already been completed.

"The bulk of my involvement, honestly, was in the early, early, early phases. All my heavy lifting has already been done," Bischoff said.

He continued, noting some other names involved.

"When you have the trifecta of Todd Phillips, who's one of the more sought-after directors in Hollywood, [writer] Scott Silver, same could be said easily, and then it's not that hard to get a guy like Chris Hemsworth. Well, I shouldn't say it's not that hard. It becomes a little easier to attract a top, top, top, top level actor when you've got top, top level directors and writers… That's called packaging, and I think the packaging is what got this movie off the ground. That took place two years ago," he said.

He then went on to explain that COVID-19 is the biggest thing impacting the development of the project further.

"The biggest holdup right now, folks, is COVID," Bischoff said. "This is a big movie, by the way. It's a wrestling-based movie. So, guess what you need to have in a wrestling-based movie—a crowd! Where are you going to do that? You can't even have ten people at your house for Thanksgiving right now. So, until that part of it is figured out, it's likely that this project is going to stay kind of right where it is, which is really far down the line.

"I don't want to sound like it's not going to happen. It's going to happen."

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.