Ridley Scott Going To "Wall Street"

Ridley Scott Going To "Wall Street"

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

We're in a recession, but Wall Street seems to be on a hot streak.

Following Oliver Stone's "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps," it looks as if we'll be getting another look at the world of stocks, this time with an adaptation of Jordan Belfort's '90s stock market memoir, "The Wolf of Wall Street."

At first looking to be another re-teaming of Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese, Deadline says it looks as if Ridley Scott is in early discussions to take the reins of the film.

The book follows the supervisor of a group of stockbrokers who live off the extravagant funds they scored from squeezing clients to buy stocks that pay off in the broker's favor. The federal authorities eventually brought down the shady brokers.

DiCaprio and Scorsese came close to doing the project two years ago but it stalled due to a dispute between Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures, resulting in the duo collaborating on "Shutter Island." Now, the scenario is that Scorsese will produce the project alongside DiCaprio, who will star.

Scott loves the script adaptation by Terrance Winter ("The Sopranos," "Boardwalk Empire"), but the biggest obstacle this film has in its way is scheduling.

Between Scott's "Alien" prequel, Scorsese's "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" and DiCaprio's starring role in Clint Eastwood's "Hoover," finding time to actually make the movie might be difficult.

The script is reported to be funny, dramatic and fast paced, and manages to make something of a sympathetic character out of a stockbroker who squeezed clients to buy stocks that paid off for the brokers.

How that will fare in a post-Madoff era remains be seen, but with Scott, DiCaprio and Scorcese involved, I think it will turn out quite fine.

Look for more on this project in the coming months.