Somewhere out there, David Fincher and Adam McKay are arm wrestling for the rights to direct a forthcoming movie adaptation of the ongoing GameStop saga. According to Deadline, MGM has already acquired the book proposal The Antisocial Network, which plans to track the strategic Redditors who trolled the stock market last week. The proposal about the still-unfolding Wall Street debacle comes from Ben Mezrich, the best-selling author of The Accidental Billionaires—a book about the founding of Facebook that served as the source material for Fincher’s 2010 drama The Social Network.
The GameStop saga is still an ever-evolving news story, kicking off last week when users on the Reddit forum WallStreetBets decided to mess with the stock market and send shares of the video game company GameStop soaring. The move disrupted everyday business for hedge funds, and inspired even more people to join in, boosting stocks for struggling companies like AMC and Nokia too. It’s all very complicated, involving short squeezes and the app RobinHood and AOC, serving as a ridiculous, eye-opening revelation about the extremely precarious nature of the stock market and how furious Wall Street types get when everyday people want to join in on the chaos. If this was The Big Short, this would be the part where Margot Robbie magically appears, lounging in a bathtub and explaining the market in nerdy, excruciating detail.
Hollywood is moving fast to tell this story, however, with MGM jumping on Mezrich’s proposal on Friday night. Oscar-nominated producer Aaron Ryder (Arrival) will produce for MGM. Also in the mix? Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Big Crew twins who successfully sued Mark Zuckerberg after they claimed he lifted the idea for Facebook from a website they hired him to design. The duo were memorably portrayed in The Social Network by Armie Hammer (who is currently facing abuse allegations, which he denies) in both roles.
A screenwriter and director have not yet been attached to the project. Time to check on that arm wrestle and see if anyone won out…
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