We smell what The Rock is cookin’ – and that is a Ric Flair biopic, a long-awaited project about the stylin’ and profilin’ icon of the squared circle, the news of which can make us say only one thing: Woooooo! That’s right, Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions will send a Flair biopic to the ring, with Johnson himself issuing a statement on the film.
Johnson unveiled the biopic earlier this week while also paying tribute to Flair, stating, “As a kid who grew up in professional wrestling, I idolized, ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. He was a hero to me. And once I broke into the wrestling business and began to spill my own sweat and blood – my reverence for Ric turned to respect. Because I realized just how rare and impossible it is to disrupt the wrestling business, culture and truly change the game – and that’s exactly what Ric Flair did. This project is personal, and we can’t wait to tell his unbelievable story. As always, thank you for the house, Ric.”
A Ric Flair biopic is a long time coming, as The Nature Boy has one of the most storied careers in the wrestling business. We’re talking early days in the AWA in the ‘70s, a series of incredible bouts in Japan, a career-solidifying run in the NWA/WCW, a surprisingly short initial stint in the WWE (then called the WWF), and numerous retirements and returns – with so much in between. Really, there is a lot to cover in a Ric Flair biopic. As someone who grew up watching wrestling in the ‘90s, one key moment I’d love to see is his 1992 Royal Rumble win, a feat of endurance that saw Flair enter at #3 and last over one hour to become the World Heavyweight Champion. And of course there is the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell”…Regardless of the scenes they choose or leave out, with Johnson on board, the movie will undoubtedly be a work of love and admiration.
While Ric Flair has been the subject of numerous documentaries, his persona is rare on the big screen. He was recently depicted by Aaron Dean Eisenberg in The Iron Claw (about the Von Erich wrestling clan), but that was far from being well received…
Chris Pratt and Sebastian Stan have been linked to a Ric Flair biopic at various points, but Flair himself has brought up Bradley Cooper as a potential star. Who do you think could play Ric Flair in a biopic? Should the studio go from with someone famous or a newcomer? Give us your thoughts below!