Professional skater Tony Hawk’s documentary, “Pretending I’m a Superman,” has found a home, Variety has learned exclusively.
Wood Entertainment has bought worldwide rights to “Pretending I’m a Superman – The Tony Hawk Video Game Story.”
Hawk and Activision launched the initial “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” series in 1999, selling 9 million copies and spawning a total of 17 versions of the game by 2015. The film, directed by Ludvig Gür, tells the story of how Hawk evolved from a skater to a video game mogul, and the near extinction of skateboarding culture before exploding into the mainstream in the early 2000s.
Wood Entertainment CEO Tara Wood negotiated the deal with producer Ralph D’Amato, a producer on the “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” franchise, on behalf of D’Amato Productions.
“‘Pretending I’m a Superman’ is a robust, real-life story of our successful video game series as told by those who created it, and many who were inspired by it,” Hawk said in a statement.
The movie includes never-before-seen footage and interviews with Hawk, as well as interviews with skating stars Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska and Jamie Thomas.
“I’m really excited to partner with Wood Entertainment,” Gür said. “It’s been a long journey making the documentary and I’m stoked it will finally be released for skateboarding and ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ fans worldwide. The art form and video game had an enormous impact on Generation Y/Z and the story behind it is even more fascinating.”
Wood Entertainment produced “QT8: The First Eight,” a documentary that chronicles Quentin Tarantino’s first eight movies. Wood completed the doc after a protracted legal battle to regain the rights following a production deal with the Weinstein Company back in 2016. She began selling the rights last year at the Cannes Film Festival.