As we all know, Hollywood makes film based off a variety of inspirations and materials ranging from books to toys for god’s sake. Of course, we have original works based off the creative minds of individuals but one of the go-to sources would be news articles. To acquire the rights to these stories, plenty of cash needs to put on the table which has led to numerous Oscar contenders from crime films like Dog Day Afternoon and dramas like Dallas Buyers Club. It looks like one particular story is all the rage in Hollywood as the McDonald’s Monopoly theft story has set a bidding record in the industry after a bidding war which sees two familiar boys victorious.
In case some are unaware, The Daily Beast published a piece on how an ex-cop rigged the McDonald’s monopoly game and stole millions in the process. The piece was one hell of a crazy conspiracy involving mobsters and drug traffickers which saw a family falsely claiming $24 million in cash and prizes for over a decade. This no doubt sounds like something Hollywood would be interested and they sure as hell are.
Vulture reports that a full on bidding war between major studios was raged for the piece by author Jeff Maysh. Giants like Warner Bros. attempted to buy “McScam” (yeah, that’s what we’re calling it) for a film to star Steve Carrell, Universal took a shot at it as well with Kevin Hart to star in it and even the legend himself, Martin Scorsese attempted to make a bid to have another Leonardo Dicaprio led flick. Netflix wanted to get their hands on their story at the behest of Robert Downey Jr. and Hangover director Todd Philips. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment made an attempt to acquire the rights as well according to sources. Hell, even Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell wanted some of the action.
It’s like the Royal Rumble here with one emerging victorious after 72 hours, The Good Will Hunters! Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company Pearl Street Films made a bid of $1 million for the piece, the highest price paid for an optioned article in Hollywood history (at least according to those who worked on the deal). It seems like the plan for this would reside along the lines of Affleck directing and Damon to star with Deadpool writers, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese to tackle the script.
Before we go on about how Hollywood are vultures, it’s best to take into account that this piece was sort of penned to be made into a film. David Klawans who will co-produce the project greatly provided research material for Maysh and has experience as a film and TV producer.
It seems like this could serve up one hell of a treat later on and would likely be a dark comedy that could be reminiscent to works such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short. Affeck has experience as a director albeit not so much in the comedic realm but he is no doubt proved himself as a director with films like Argo and The Town. With the Deadpool writers on board however, this could be something to look out for that could really bring that Rated-R flare to the dialogue.
Source: Vulture , The Daily Beast
