It’s almost surprising that nobody has made a major Hugh Hefner biopic before now, but it seems one is coming, as Variety reports David Dobkin is in talks to direct one for Warner Bros. The project was previously known as Playboy but now it doesn’t have a title.
Peter Morgan is writing the screenplay, which will return him to the same 70s era as his 2008 drama Frost/Nixon. No story details have been given, and it isn’t known if the project plans to focus on just one time in Hugh Hefner’s life, or follow him through his life. It would seem to be the former, as while Variety talks about a 70s setting, Hugh founded Playboy Magazine back in 1953, building the magazine into a media empire while living the swinging bachelor life well into his 80s.
Jerry Weintraub is producing the drama, which Warner Bros. picked up out of turnaround at Universal. The studio is now focusing on finding the right actor to play the Playboy founder. When the project was at Universal, the studio sought out actors such as Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr., and it is believed that Warner Bros. will be seeking an actor with a similar charm. Perhaps Dobkin can get Downey Jr. interested again, as he recently finished working with him on The Judge.
It’s over 40 years since I was Bunny Deana at the London Playboy Club, and yet here we are still headlining the comings and goings of Hugh Hefner. It just goes to show what a great idea Playboy was. If anyone is interested, I have a collection of original (and now historic!) photographs – including several of me with Hefner – online at Bunny Deana Photo Album, illustrating what I think was the golden age of classic Playboy.