Andre the Giant Biopic in the Works Based on Wrestler’s Graphic Novel Biography

A biography told in graphic novel form is far from typical, but then again, so was Andre Roussimoff, the pro-wrestling legend better known to fans as Andre the Giant. The 2015 graphic novel Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven will serve as the inspiration for the late wrestler’s big screen biopic, with his daughter Robin Christensen-Roussimoff serving as consultant on the project.

Per Variety, Christensen-Roussimoff assigned the exclusive rights to her father’s biopic to producers Scott Steindorff and Dylan Russell. The pair, along with Lion Forge Comics, will bring the iconic pro-wrestler’s true-life story to the big screen based on author Brandon Easton and illustrator Denis Medri’s graphic novel.

The novel follows Andre “The Giant” Roussimoff from his younger days working on a family farm in France to his part in the burgeoning professional wrestling industry, which transformed Roussimoff into a celebrity in the World Wrestling Federation (which later became WWE) — which owes at least some of its success to Andre the Giant. Roussimoff’s nickname came from his imposing size, a result of gigantism — a painful condition which causes abnormally large growth due to a hormonal imbalance.

The fame Roussimoff earned through wrestling led to other opportunities, including a supporting role in the classic 1987 film The Princess Bride, in which he played a bandit named Fezzik opposite Wallace Shawn and Mandy Patinkin. Roussimoff passed away in 1993 at the age of 46.

A director and writer are still being sought for the biopic.