Jared Leto set to play Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner in upcoming biopic

"When Jared heard I got the rights to Hef's story, he told me, 'I want to play him'" shares director Brett Ratner

04 Oct, 2017

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner the died on September 27 this year at the age of 91.

And Hollywood is already set to commemorate his life.

The publishing mogul is getting a biopic and Oscar winner Jared Leto is set to play Hefner in the upcoming Brett Ratner flick.

According to Hollywood Reporter, the Rush Hour director shared: "Jared is an old friend. When he heard I got the rights to Hef's story, he told me, 'I want to play him. I want to understand him.' And I really believe Jared can do it. He's one of the great actors of today."

The movie has been in the pipeline more or less since 2007, when it was initially set up at Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment.

However, when the rights expired, they were purchased by producer Jerry Weintraub for Warner Bros. After Weintraub died in 2015, Ratner bought the rights for his own company. Ratner reveals, "My goal is to do the motion picture as an event."

The project is now in early development with Ratner's RatPac Entertainment.