Variety is reporting that The Hunger Games and Red Sparrow director Francis Lawrence has signed on to direct an adaptation of Ryan Holiday’s book Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue.
The film will tell the story of the downfall of gossip blog Gawker following a $140 million judgement against the company for the publication of a sex tape featuring Hulk Hogan. The wrestling icon’s case was funded by billionaire Paypal founder Thiel, who had previously been outed as gay by Gawker.
“When I read Ryan’s extraordinary book I was totally taken with this story, such an exquisitely contemporary tale, and I immediately had a vision for it as a film,” said Lawrence. “It’s an important and meaningful story, and one I’m excited to tell. I’m thrilled to come aboard and to work with this team.”
This isn’t the only potential project in the works tackling the same subject, as Jason Winer (Modern Family, Ode to Joy) is set to direct Gawker v. Thiel, which was announced this past March.