Having co-written the big screen adaptation of Michael Lewis’ novel Moneyball, famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is hoping to replicate that success with an adaptation of the author’s latest book, Flash Boys.
Tackling a hot-button topic, the non-fiction story looks at high frequency trading on Wall Street, and how such practices lead to a market that could be considered “rigged.” Focusing on two men in the main – Brad Katsuyama (the founder of the Investor’s Exchange, IEX), and Sergey Aleynikov (a one-time programmer for Goldman Sachs) – the book allegedly sparked an FBI investigation into the issues involved, soon after its March 31st, 2014 release.
Power house producer Scott Rudin – who executive produced Moneyball and worked with Sorkin on The Newsroom and The Social Network – is producing Flash Boys, along with Eli Bush (The Grand Budapest Hotel), for Sony. It was Sony that acquired the rights to Flash Boys back in April 2014, and the studio now seems to be assembling the perfect creative team to bring it to cinematic fruition. Now that Sorkin is in the mix, we can almost certainly expect to hear a director’s name attached very soon.
Which director that will be is anyone’s guess – a Michael Lewis adaptation is a very specific kind of project. As a non-fiction author and financial journalist, his work is intensely researched and statistic-heavy – a format that doesn’t easily lend itself to a narrative tale. However, in the hands of an award-winning writer such as Aaron Sorkin, Lewis’ work transforms into a gripping, dramatic tale, in which the audience becomes invested and engrossed. And, in the current climate of global economic and social inequality, a story such as Flash Boys could not be more timely.
