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Playboy's Hefner approves movie about his life
2007-06-25
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner's wild life is being turned into a feature film that will look at his social activism as well as his sexual exploits, Daily Variety reported on Monday. "Playboy" will be directed by Brett Ratner, the filmmaker behind the "Rush Hour" movies, the trade paper said. It is being produced for Universal Pictures by Brian Grazer, who won the best picture Academy Award for "A Beautiful Mind." Hefner, 81, who sold his life rights to Grazer several years ago, approved the duo's vision for the project last week, Daily Variety said. The paper said a script is being written now. "Hef came from a puritanical upbringing and reinvented himself to be the godfather of the sexual revolution," Daily Variety quoted Ratner as saying. "He broke all kinds of taboos, especially in sexuality. I want to show it all, from the First Amendment (guaranteeing free speech) struggles to his first orgy to the stroke in the 1980s that almost killed him." Hefner founded Playboy in 1953, turning a $600 investment and a picture of Marilyn Monroe into one of the most successful publishing empires in history. He coaxed along the sexual revolution of the 1960s and used the pages of his magazine to write lengthy articles fighting censorship and promoting various other libertarian causes. Playboy magazine is owned by Playboy Enterprises Inc. Universal Pictures is a unit of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal Inc.
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