Kenan Thompson to Produce Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage Biopic

More than 25 years after “Macho Man” Randy Savage gave him an atomic wedgie on live TV, longtime SNL star Kenan Thompson is producing a film about the late wrestling icon.

Titled Macho, the biopic was co-written by Savage’s brother, the late wrestler Lanny Poffo (aka “Leaping” Lanny and “The Genius”), along with Eric Shapiro. The story charts Savage’s failed shot at pro baseball before he reinvented himself as one of wrestling’s most unpredictable and magnetic performers.

Savage, who died at 58 in 2011, was a headliner in both the WWF and WCW during the 1980s and ’90s, cementing his place as one of the sport’s most colorful legends.

Thompson is producing alongside Johnny Ryan Jr., his partner in Artists for Artists, the company they launched in 2021 to help creators secure distribution while retaining ownership of their work. Deadline was first to report on the deal.

Macho is the company’s second nostalgia-fueled project announced this week. Thompson and Ryan are also executive producing a new installment of Sleepaway Camp with original creator Robert Hiltzik.

“Beyond excited for this one,” Thompson told Deadline. “Macho Man is hands down one of the greatest of all time and I can’t wait to bring his story to the screen!!!”

The project also brings Thompson’s relationship with Savage full circle. Back in 1999, during his Kenan & Kel days, Thompson teamed with the wrestler for the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards—where he got wedgied, and Savage got slimed.