Hulk Hogan rips his shirt at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Octber 27, 2024, in New York.
Alex Brandon/AP

Hulk Hogan was in the midst of filming a documentary project for Netflix at the time of his death, CNN has learned.

The wrestling legend died earlier this week, at the age of 71.

The previously unannounced project, made in partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), is intended to chronicle the wrestling legend’s storied life and career, on and off screen, and will still be released after Hogan’s sudden passing, according to sources associated with the project. Filming remains ongoing.

One source close to the untitled documentary said that the project has been in the works since 2024. Over 20 hours of unseen sit-down interviews with Hogan have already been completed, and an additional 30 hours of scenes have already been shot.

The documentary was being produced with Hogan’s full participation. “People will see a side of him they haven’t seen before,” the source told CNN.

No release date has been set thus far, and Hogan’s unexpected death will require filmmakers to re-tool portions of the documentary. Cameras will be on the ground at WWE Smackdown on Friday evening to capture a planned tribute to Hogan, according to the source.

Born Terry Bollea and better known as Hulk Hogan, the professional wrestler was widely recognized as the biggest wrestling star of all time, helping catapult WWE into the massive success it is today.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan puts a choke hold on the neck of Utah Jazz basketball star Karl Malone at a pay-per-view wrestling match Sunday July 12, 1998 in San Diego.
Lenny Ignelzi/AP

He died on Thursday from cardiac arrest, according to officials. Police and fire personnel in Clearwater, Florida, said in a news conference that there were no signs of suspicious activity or foul play in his death and that a standard investigation is ongoing.

Hogan is credited with turning the sport of wrestling into an entertainment powerhouse. His larger-than-life presence in the 1980s and 1990s propelled him to become a household name and global superstar, creating the blueprint for other wrestlers – like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena – to parlay their fame in the ring over to Hollywood and into movies, television shows and reality TV.

The Netflix documentary project is being directed by Bryan Storkel and will be produced by Connor Schell’s studio, Words + Pictures, in collaboration with WWE.

The Hogan doc was first reported by Puck.

Netflix declined to provide further details on the documentary at this time.