News

Oscar-winning director Milos Forman was in talks to direct the film adaptation of Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, a book from Mitchell Zuckoff professor of journalism at Boston University.

Screenwriter Christopher Weekes has been tapped to pen the script. Weekes attracted attention when his screenplay for Jim Henson feature Muppet Man topped the 2009 Black List.

Forman’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus are among the most highly respected in the history of film, both earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. He was nominated for that award for The People vs. Larry Flynt and he also took home a Golden Globe, Cannes, Berlinale, BAFTA, among other awards.

Who was the predecessor to today’s biggest financial scam artists like Madoff and Kenneth Lay?

Born to a wealthy family in northern Italy late in the 19th century, Charles (born Carlo) Ponzi...

In the world of scams, there's one name that always stands out, so it's no surprise that Ponzi's Scheme will be given the feature film treatment. Variety reports veteran filmmaker Milos Forman, that man behind such iconic films as Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest will direct this story about the real-life of Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi, creator of the eponymous financial scam and the precursor to today's biggest financial scam artists like Madoff and Kenneth Lay. And if that wasn't enticing enough, the script comes from writer Christopher Weekes whose script Muppet Man appeared on the 2009 Black List. The film will actually be based on Mitchell Zuckoff's biography Ponzi's Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend which is summed up right here: Before Charles Ponzi (1882â€"1949) sailed from Italy to the shores of America in 1903, his father assured him that the streets ...

George Clooney’s film adaptation of the play Enron remains in development at Sony, but the cast that made it a hit in London will not be coming to Hollywood, according to the London Guardian. The play’s author, Lucy Prebble, is working on the film’ script, but Samuel West, who played Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, and Tim Pigott-Smith, who portrayed founder Kenneth Lay, are among those not expected to reprise their stage roles in the movie.

"This is a brutal, cynical business, but if there is a joy and freedom you feel when you're performing, nurture it and capitalize on it," said Norbert Leo Butz when asked his advice to young actors. Added Gregory Itzin, "If there is anything else that can make you happy, do it!" The two actors, along with their "Enron" co-stars Stephen Kunken and Marin Mazzie, were participating in a roundtable at Sardi's several days before the announcement of their show's shuttering 12 days after it bowed on Broadway. Though the actors did not anticipate the London transfer's rapid demise, as seasoned performers they keenly understand the vagaries of the business.Still, at the time of the conversation, they talked with pleasure about the challenges of playing the real-life, white-collar criminals who brought down the Houston energy corporation in 2001. They also praised 20-something Lucy Prebble's script, which they dubbed "compelling," "important," and "smart.