For years, famous podcaster and media mogul Bill Simmons had been passionately pushing for an Andre the Giant documentary. The Hall of Fame big man had been a story that Simmons had wanted to tell dating back to his ESPN days when he first helped start the ’30 for 30′ franchise ESPN films.
Although Simmons departed the worldwide leader, his passion for the movie never died, and there were rumors about the biopic begin developed last summer. Nothing came out of it until now. The WWE, along with Bill Simmons and his new employer HBO will work together to make the documentary about the legendary giant.
Following from Daniel Holloway of Variety.
Bill Simmons will team with the WWE and HBO Sports to produce a documentary on wrestling legend Andre the Giant for the pay cabler.
For more than 20 years, Andre the Giant’s larger than life personality and unique charisma captured the imagination of fans around the world,” said WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon. “I will always value our friendship, and am proud to tell the story of the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’.”
Titled “Andre the Giant,” the documentary is also Simmons’ first project at HBO since his talk show “Any Given Wednesday” was canceled in November. Simmons signed a deal in 2015 to host the talk show and produce projects for HBO after parting ways with his previous television home, ESPN.
Jason Hehir, who worked with Simmons on his “30 for 30” documentary series for ESPN, will direct the film.
“Going back to 2007 and 2008 when I was creating and developing ‘30 for 30’ for ESPN, Andre’s story rode the top of every single sports documentary wish list I ever made,” said Simmons. “We always hear about unicorns these days – Andre was the ultimate unicorn. He’s a true legend. Everyone who ever crossed paths with him has an Andre story – and usually four or five. I’m delighted to join forces with Jason Hehir and WWE so we can capture Andre’s amazing story once and for all.”
Simmons also made the announcement himself on Twitter.
So happy to team up with @hbo and @wwe and Jason Hehir to make my dream sports documentary project – ANDRE THE GIANT. It's happening. pic.twitter.com/VCGmo3iHOz
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 13, 2017
As Holloway points out in his piece for Variety, the film will also go into detail about the iconic wrestler’s upbringing in France as André René Roussimoff along with his wrestling career, and his stint in Hollywood highlighted by his appearance in the 1987 Rob Reiner movie, “The Princess Bride”.
