Three things, including a red smoking jacket, a sailing captain’s hat, and black silk pyjamas, unmistakably identify Hugh Hefner. Less than a month after Hefner’s death from natural causes at age 91, RatPac Entertainment announced a biopic about the Playboy bunny tycoon.
Given the revival of biopics, including Bohemian Rhapsody about Freddie Mercury, Rocketman about Elton John, Elvis about Elvis Presley, and most recently, I Wanna Dance With Somebody about Whitney Houston, it’s not surprising that a movie about Hefner would be developed.
Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise when director Brett Ratner announced that his media business, RatPac Entertainment, will be producing a Hefner biopic under his own direction. Fans of the actor and late businessman were thrilled when Ratner revealed Jared Leto as the actor who would play Hefner, and they were eagerly expecting additional information about the movie.
Jared Leto As Hugh Hefner and The Film’s Early Development
John Leto Hugh Hefner and the Early Development of the Movie instar52151002 According to Instar Ratner, “The Hollywood Reporter “Ared and I go way back. He said, “I want to portray him,” when he found out I had acquired the rights to Hef’s story. I’m trying to comprehend him. Jared can do it, and I genuinely think he can. He is one of today’s best actors.”
RatPac Entertainment has been working on the Hefner biopic in its early stages. Since 2007, Ratner has been committed to serving as both the film’s producer and director. Hef was originally supposed to be played by Robert Downey Jr., and the deal was made with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.
But when the rights ran out, Ocean’s Eleven and HBO’s Westworld producer Jerry Weintraub bought them for Warner Bros. Ratner, however, soon acquired the rights for his own RatPac Entertainment after Weintraub’s passing and declared, “My intention is to do the motion picture as an event.”
Ratner invited Jared Leto to the American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story premiere of Amazon, which was place in the Playboy estate, in honour of Hefner’s 91st birthday.
It was Ratner’s intention to introduce Leto and Hef so they might become acquainted. And so Leto could get to know the character he was about to play on the big screen. Hefner, meanwhile, was not hosting visitors that day due to his deteriorating health. Ratner was unconcerned, though, since “Jared will be able to collect as much information as he wants” because “there is enough film on Hef out there,” he claims.
Hefner did, however, give his approval for a movie to be made about him and his life before he passed away.
The media tycoon stated to Variety during an interview that “Making a feature film on my life has generated a lot of interest and discussion in recent years. I’ve always thought that the ideal creative collaborators would join forces for this project when the time was genuinely right. I think Brett Ratner and RatPac Entertainment are those partners. This partnership is something I’m really looking forward to.”
Is Jared Leto Still Playing Hugh Hefner?
Leto via agents informed Deadline that there has been little progress on the movie “Jared Leto won’t be collaborating with Brett Ratner in the future and hasn’t been attached to any Hugh Hefner-starring projects. The earlier information was untrue and unsupported by his spokespeople.”
Actress Natasha Henstridge and several women also accused Ratner of harassment and inappropriate behaviour. If it hadn’t happened, Henstirdige remarked about Ratner, “I don’t know how different I would be today—less hardened, less jaded, more trusting, all those things.”
Hefner’s media company Playboy Enterprises issued a statement when news about Henstridge and the ladies first surfaced. “Finding out about the allegations against Brett Ratner really disturbs us. This sort of conduct is wholly unacceptable to us. We have halted all further work on our joint projects with RatPac Entertainment until we have time to assess the matter more thoroughly.”
Is The Biopic Going On Without Jared Leto?
Playboy Enterprises opted to cancel the project after Warner Bros. said it was aware of the allegations and is “reviewing the matter,” but Leto came out and said he was never associated with it.
Many people were relieved to hear that the movie had been paused once the news of the allegations against Ratner leaked. Leto’s fans were relieved to learn that he would not be collaborating with Ratner on a movie about a sex media magnate. Some people felt it ironic that Ratner was making a movie about Hefner while making these charges, which turned out to be a terrible turn of events.
Given the charges, it seems quite improbable that Ratner, who has been charged with harassing women, would be in charge of a movie about Hefner. Whether Playboy Enterprises will carry with the project with a different director is still unknown.
