Hemsworth, who split from his wife, singer Miley Cyrus, last year, is best known for his role in The Hunger Games.
Coetzee likes the idea of Hemsworth playing him. "He is a great actor and a good fit for the role."
Producers are also in talks to sign Pulp Fiction and Mission Impossible actor Ving Rhames to play boxing promoter Don King. Rhames has played King before, in the miniseries Don King: Only in America, winning a Golden Globe for it in 1998.
The film, titled Gerrie, will be directed by Koos Roets.
"We were supposed to start filming in April but the Covid-19 pandemic meant no one could fly in or out of the country," Scholtz said.
"So we are planning for around August, but we will see what happens. I am excited for the film because it is more than just a story about boxing, but one about humanity and endurance."
Coetzee beat Michael Dokes in 1983 to become World Boxing Association champion.
But fighting at the height of apartheid and in defiance of international boycotts came at a price.
"When I fought Frank Bruno [in England in 1986] me and the South Africans that were with me had to lie down in the truck that was taking us to the arena so the protesters wouldn't see us. It was scary and if they had discovered us they would have pelted us with bricks. It was difficult but I always saw myself not as a white boxer but a South African boxer, representing all South Africans of every race," said Coetzee.
He was honoured at the Hollywood and African Prestigious Awards in Los Angeles in 2017.
Coetzee's boxing will be the centre of the movie but it will also show the struggles and joys of his private life.
"I was approached by a South African company to do a film a few months before the American company approached me, but I turned it down because this film is more the one I want to tell. It is not just about boxing but about the other things that also bring me joy: my wife, my family."
Producers are looking to cast a local actress as his wife, Rina, after negotiations with Charlize Theron were said to have failed.
"I understand that they wanted Charlize but she wanted $15m for the role. It was a bit too expensive. But we have a good relationship, me and Charlize. I remember once flying on the same flight to SA. She spent some of the flight singing [Leon Schuster's song] Gerrie Seer Handjies Coetzee."
He joked that first prize would be his wife playing herself in the film.
"I told her she must play herself but she just laughed and said I must then play myself as well. Imagine that."
Producers hope to rope in 'Hunger Games' star for Gerrie Coetzee biopic
US company Fontabila Productions is at an "advanced stage" of signing Liam Hemsworth to play the former boxing champ
Before Gerrie Coetzee became Africa's first world heavyweight boxing champion in 1983, he was dubbed The Great White Hope. It was a label many white contenders endured in a sport dominated by black men - and Coetzee hated it.
Coetzee said he was fighting for "everybody, black and white".
"What really makes me happy is for black, brown and white people to accept me as their fighter," he said.
Now 65, Coetzee is to be the subject of a movie of his life. Shooting is due to start later this year.
US company Fontabila Productions is at an "advanced stage" of signing Hollywood heartthrob Liam Hemsworth to play Coetzee.
"We haven't approached anyone else yet because we are hopeful of getting him," said SA producer Andre Scholtz.
Hemsworth, who split from his wife, singer Miley Cyrus, last year, is best known for his role in The Hunger Games.
Coetzee likes the idea of Hemsworth playing him. "He is a great actor and a good fit for the role."
Producers are also in talks to sign Pulp Fiction and Mission Impossible actor Ving Rhames to play boxing promoter Don King. Rhames has played King before, in the miniseries Don King: Only in America, winning a Golden Globe for it in 1998.
The film, titled Gerrie, will be directed by Koos Roets.
"We were supposed to start filming in April but the Covid-19 pandemic meant no one could fly in or out of the country," Scholtz said.
"So we are planning for around August, but we will see what happens. I am excited for the film because it is more than just a story about boxing, but one about humanity and endurance."
Coetzee beat Michael Dokes in 1983 to become World Boxing Association champion.
But fighting at the height of apartheid and in defiance of international boycotts came at a price.
"When I fought Frank Bruno [in England in 1986] me and the South Africans that were with me had to lie down in the truck that was taking us to the arena so the protesters wouldn't see us. It was scary and if they had discovered us they would have pelted us with bricks. It was difficult but I always saw myself not as a white boxer but a South African boxer, representing all South Africans of every race," said Coetzee.
He was honoured at the Hollywood and African Prestigious Awards in Los Angeles in 2017.
Coetzee's boxing will be the centre of the movie but it will also show the struggles and joys of his private life.
"I was approached by a South African company to do a film a few months before the American company approached me, but I turned it down because this film is more the one I want to tell. It is not just about boxing but about the other things that also bring me joy: my wife, my family."
Producers are looking to cast a local actress as his wife, Rina, after negotiations with Charlize Theron were said to have failed.
"I understand that they wanted Charlize but she wanted $15m for the role. It was a bit too expensive. But we have a good relationship, me and Charlize. I remember once flying on the same flight to SA. She spent some of the flight singing [Leon Schuster's song] Gerrie Seer Handjies Coetzee."
He joked that first prize would be his wife playing herself in the film.
"I told her she must play herself but she just laughed and said I must then play myself as well. Imagine that."
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