Ben Affleck, Matt Damon And The Writers Of ‘Deadpool’ To Adapt McDonald’s Monopoly Fraud Story
That was fast. Mere days after The Daily Beast published an explosive, entertaining story about a huge scam surrounding McDonald’s Monopoly game, a film is officially in the works.Ben Affleckis set to direct,Matt Damonis set to star, and the writers ofDeadpoolwill tackle the script.
A few days ago, The Daily Beast ran a lengthy, eye-popping story titled “How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions.” The piece focused on Jerome Jacobson, a man who created a vast criminal network involving mobsters and small-time crooks to pull off a very unusual scam. Jacobson was a former cop who worked for the company that oversaw McDonald’s wildly popular Monopoly game. Jacobson’s scam involved stealing winning game pieces and distributing them to friends and relatives – provided these individuals cut him in on the winnings. The scam went on for years, and was eventually busted via an FBI sting. The Daily Beast story is very entertaining, and while reading it, I immediately thought, “This would make a great movie.”
Sure enough, Hollywood was has come calling.Deadlinesays that Fox has snapped up the rights to the story, and that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have reunited to make it a reality. Affleck is likely to direct, while Damon will star, and the duo will both produce via their Pearl Street Films.DeadpoolscreenwritersPaul WernickandRhett Reesewill pen the script.
I’m a bit conflicted about this. While the story would indeed make for a great movie, I’m not so sure this is the team to make it happen. I don’t dislike Affleck as a filmmaker, but he seems like the wrong fit to helm this story. While reading it, I couldn’t help but think this was the type of narrative tailor-made for Martin Scorsese. It basically reads likeThe Wolf of Wall Streetset in the world of McDonald’s Monopoly. Of course, Scorsese is a bit busy right now, working onThe Irishmanand several other projects he has lined-up. The Coen Brothers also could’ve done something amazing with this material. But perhaps these choices are just too obvious, and I’m over here being basic.
Then there’s the fact that the guys who wroteDeadpoolare handling the script. The duo are hot right now, since bothDeadpoolandDeadpool 2were huge hits. But I worry they’re going to bog the story down in dumb jokes, when the secret to making this admittedly crazy story work is to play it straight. The humor will come from the absurdity of it all. Despite these reservations, I’m excited to see where this goes.
