"When he heard I got the rights to Hef's story, he told me, 'I want to play him. I want to understand him.' And I really believe Jared can do it. He's one of the great actors of today."
The film, which is in the early stages of development, is expected to be made by Ratner's RatPac Entertainment.
It had been Ratner’s ambition to make a movie about Hefner since 2007, but he was not the first to get the rights to the movie.
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment originally had the rights to make the film, but they expired.
They were purchased by Ocean's Eleven, producer Jerry Weintraub for Warner Bros, but he died in 2015.
When Weintraub died Ratner acquired the rights.
"My goal is to do the motion picture as an event," he said.
The director, who is also known for directing the Rush Hour film series, and The Family Man, is not worried that Leto never met the man he is to play.
"There's enough footage on Hef out there that Jared will be able to get as much information as he wants," he said.
