Nevada radio legend’s biopic subject of Hollywood bidding war

He broadcast stories about Area 51 and alien abductions across the nation from his radio station in Pahrump.

Now, a movie about Art Bell’s life is said to be the subject of a Hollywood bidding war.

According to a report from Deadline, studios including Universal, Warner Bros. and Amazon are interested in a Bell biopic that would star Paul Giamatti.

“Mr. Bell interviewed purported time travelers, Bigfoot killers, witches, doomsday advocates, vampires, UFO aficionados, government whistleblowers and undercover agents,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote in an editorial the week after his death. “He also had the occasional celebrity guest, including Regis Philbin, Leonard Nimoy and Dan Aykroyd.”

The talk radio host was found dead in his Pahrump home on a Friday the 13th (April 13, 2018) at the age of 72.

Bell broadcast “Coast to Coast AM” from KNYE-FM, 95.1, the Pahrump radio station he founded. At the height of its popularity, the show was syndicated on about 500 stations nationwide.

He was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2008.

The report said directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, collectively known as Radio Silence, are behind the project.

The duo has made names for themselves by directing horror movies including “Ready or Not,” the 2022 “Scream” reboot and its sequel, “Scream VI,” and last year’s “Abigail.”