Hefner biopic 'gets the go-ahead'

Hugh Hefner pictured with two of his 'playmates'

A biopic about the life of Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner is to go ahead after he gave his final approval to the project, according to a report.

Brett Ratner, who directed the final instalment of the X Men series, will direct the biopic, said Hollywood publication Variety.

"I want to show it all, from his first orgy to the stroke that almost killed him in the 1980s," said Ratner.

Film rights to the 81-year-old's life story were obtained several years ago.

'Broke taboos'

He is famed for the centrefolds in his magazine as well as his live-in girlfriends at his mansion in LA.

Numerous attempts were made at bringing Hefner's life to the screen, including a musical, while film-maker Oliver Stone wrote several drafts of a screenplay hailing him as an icon of the sexual revolution.

Stone's role as a director of the film was ruled out after he began making Jawbreaker, about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Ratner, who made his first visit to Hefner's Playboy mansion to complete the deal, called him "the godfather of the sexual revolution".

"He also used his magazine to advocate civil rights and free speech, and put James Brown on his show Playboy After Dark when they didn't put black performers on national television," added the director.

"He broke all kinds of taboos, especially in sexuality."