Netflix Close to Acquiring Hulk Hogan Doc ‘Nobody Speak’ — Sundance 2017

Netflix is closing in on a deal for the worldwide distribution rights to the documentary “Nobody Speak: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press.” Five companies started a bidding war for the Sundance Film Festival entry, which premieres Tuesday in the U.S. Documentary Competition section, but Netflix seems positioned to win the rights for around $2 million, Deadline reports.

Directed by Brian Knappenberger, the documentary focuses on the trial between Hogan (real name: Terry Gene Bollea) and Gawker Media that centered on founder Nick Denton’s decision to publish part of a secretly videotaped sexual encounter between Hogan and the wife of his former best friend. More than just an inside take on the well-publicized legal battle, the doc raises important questions about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Submarine negotiated the deal, which was Netflix’s third documentary pickup at Sundance this year following “Casting JonBenet” and the climate change doc “Chasing Coral.”