The Cryptocurrency Platform Saga FTX and its co-founder Sam Bankman Fried could be a must-see TV or an epic biopic that depicts him as hero or villain.
The good news for anyone hoping for this outcome will be thrilled to hear the latest news on a potential movie or TV series.
What happened: While many followed the collapse and bankruptcy of the FTX cryptocurrency platform, it has been reported that someone may have closely followed Bankman-Fried as he ran the cryptocurrency company.
Benzinga shared recently which reports said author Michael Lewis has been following Bankman-Fried for six months working on a potential book.
Lewis is known for books like “Moneyball: The Art of Winning and Gambling Fairly”, “The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game” and “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine”, all of which became the subjects of successful films.
An email from talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has been sent to the parties to stimulate demand for the book and potential film rights, according to a report.
The bidding for the film and television rights to the yet-to-be-written book is expected to see strong demand given the subject matter and the author’s previous works.
A report of Deadline says two streaming giants are among the parties most interested in the rights to the book. Amazon Studios, a unit of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and Netflix Inc. NFLX are both interested.
Netflix would use Director David Fincher on the project according to the report. Fincher previously directed “The Social Network,” which told the story of Meta Platforms Inc META and its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Netflix is also doing the rounds on the project on behalf of Sugar23, which would see Josh Gad attached to the project.
That’s right, the voice of Olaf the Snowman from the Frozen franchise could soon embody one of the greatest cryptocurrency personalities of all time.
Producer David Heyman, who previously directed the Harry Potter series, producing all eight films for Discovery of Warner Bros. WBD is also listed as interested in the project.
Other reported interested parties are Scott Burns and Jonathan Glickman with Andrew Ross Sorkina CNBC host and New York Times journalist.
Related link: From ‘smoke and mirrors’ to ‘greed and deceit’: Senator Elizabeth Warren doubles down on her criticism of FTX and crypto
Why it matters: Bidding has yet to begin on film and TV rights, but as expected, CAA’s pitch has boosted demand, including a few streaming companies.
Movies and TV series about tech companies have been popular with studios in recent years. “WeCrashed,” streaming on AppleTV+ from Apple Inc. AAPLcovered the story of We work.
“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber”, centered on the Uber Technologies Inc. story aired as a series on Showtime, a unit of World Paramount PARAPARA A.
There have been several documentaries and mini-series chronicling the GameStop and the surge in meme stocks of 2021. Another movie is in the works about GameStop with big names attached from a book written by the author of “The Social Network” Ben Mezrich.
Audiences often love biographical stories of celebrities, musicians, and athletes. It remains to be seen how well the story of a cryptocurrency billionaire will work out.
For more on the latest FTX developments, check out Benzinga’s FTX homepage.
Photo: SBF screenshot from FTX video on YouTube
