Randy Holmes/Getty Images, Dado Ruvic/Reuters
- Netflix is planning to make a movie about the GameStop stocks saga, Deadline reported.
- Noah Centineo will star in the film, sources told Deadline, and “The Hurt Locker” screenwriter Mark Boal is in talks to write it.
- Rival film studio MGM has bought the rights to a book proposal about GameStop, Reddit, and Wall Street.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Streaming giant Netflix is in talks to make a movie about how Reddit users bumped up the price of GameStop stock and torched some massive hedge funds in the progress, Deadline reported Monday.
This could rival a similar film MGM is making.
The currently untitled Netflix film would star “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” actor Noah Centineo and be produced by Brad Weston and Nick Styne, sources close to the matter told Deadline.
“The Hurt Locker” screenwriter Mark Boal is in negotiations to write it, and NYU Stern marketing professor Scott Galloway is in talks to consult on the script, the sources said.
The movie will investigate the power social media has given the masses to challenge the financial and political elite, the sources said. Alongside the GameStop saga, they said the movie would explore how social media was used to spread baseless claims about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, which ultimately culminated in supporters of former President Donald Trump storming the US Capitol in a violent insurrection on January 6.
Insider has reached out to Netflix for comment.
Netflix isn't the only company making rapid moves to bring the GameStop saga to the big screen. Rival film studio MGM has bought the rights to the book "The Antisocial Network" by Ben Mezrich, whose work includes the inspiration for the hit 2010 film about the founding of Facebook, "The Social Network."
MGM's film would be produced by Ryder Picture Company's Aaron Ryder, with both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss as producers, sources close to the matter told Deadline. MGM acquired the rights Friday night after a heated bidding war, Deadline's sources said.
Redditors drove up GameStop stock
Day traders banded together on Reddit to bump up the prices of several stocks, most notably video-games retailer GameStop but also AMC, BlackBerry, and Nokia, after noticing that hedge funds were betting against them.
GameStop stock has gained massively in recent weeks - from below $5 late last year to a peak of more than $450 a share on Thursday. As a result, some of Wall Street's prominent hedge funds were forced to close their bearish bets against the company, with hefty losses.
Online brokerage Robinhood responded by restricting purchases in highly volatile stocks on Thursday, causing GameStop stock to drop. Robinhood's CEO, Vlad Tenev, is reportedly expected to testify as part of a House hearing on Wall Street's role in the chaos.