By
Chimamanda U. Martha
January 18th, 2024
A movie chronicling the peculiar events of the GameStop meme stock era starts filming this month, with several household names involved.
A movie based on the GameStop meme stock phenomenon is in the works. Titled “Dumb Money”, this motion picture will feature several established names in the entertainment industry. These include Pete Davidson, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Sebastian Stan. The new project will begin filming this month.
The GameStop meme stock movie takes its cue from writer Ben Mezrich’s nonfiction book “The Antisocial Network”. This book was published in September, one of a storied catalog of works by Mezrich. Other notable works by the American author include “The Accidental Billionaires,” which was the creative road map for Oscar-winning Facebook feature “The Social Network”. Furthermore, Mezrich also authored the MIT card counting piece “Bringing Down the House,” originally published in 2002. Six years later, the book was adapted into a movie titled “21” starring Kevin Spacey.
“Dumb Money” is heavily influenced by last year’s GameStop meme stock mania. In early to mid-2021, a group of Reddit-based investors rallied to fuel the surge of GameStop shares into meme territory. This resulted in unusually high swings of the video game retailer’s stock that saw it rally in double-digit percentages for some time. The GameStop short squeeze led to leading hedge funds and independent short sellers incurring massive financial losses. This also resulted in stronger calls for more regulation of the stock market due to the perceived manipulation of stock prices by the Wall Street Reddit group.
Accomplished Director to Helm GameStop Meme Stock Movie
According to Variety, “Dumb Money” will roll out a rights sale exercise this month at 2022’s Toronto Film Festival, which begins on September 8th. Furthermore, in addition to its principal cast, the GameStop meme stock movie has also tapped Craig Gillespie as director. Gillespie is notable for movies such as “I, Tonya,” and the controversial television series “Pam & Tommy”. Like “Dumb Money,” Gillespie’s aforementioned works are also based on real-life incidents. For example, “I, Tonya” explores the early ’90s sordid events of disgraced former Olympic figure skating champion Tonya Harding. Meanwhile, “Pam & Tommy” delves into the turbulent relationship between Canadian actress Pamela Anderson and her then-husband, bad boy Tommy Lee.
Production-wise, California-based media company Black Bear Pictures will fully finance Dumb Money. In addition, the company’s international subsidiary Black Bear International will be in charge of the movie’s foreign distribution rights.
Other Related GameStop News
GameStop stock has dropped substantially since its meme era of 2021. In fact, for the fourth quarter period, which ended January 29th, the leading gaming merchandise retailer recorded a net loss of $147.5 million or $1.94 per share. Furthermore, adjusted loss per share for the same quarter amounted to $1.86. Amid the loss, GameStop CEO Matt Furlong expressed optimism about the company’s broader scope of becoming a customer-centric tech company. At the time, Furlong explained:
“It is important to stress [that] GameStop had to become such a cyclical business and so capital starved that we have had to rebuild it from within. We’ve also had to change the way we assess revenue opportunities by starting to embrace, rather than run from, the new frontiers of gaming.”
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