Ben Affleck to Direct McDonald’s Monopoly Heist Movie
Production companies have been lining up to stake their claim in a supersized true crime tale faster than the Hamburgler can pocket an unattended double cheeseburger. Ben Affleck will direct a film based on The Daily Beast writer Jeff Maysh’s bizarre recounting of a man who made millions by scamming one of the biggest fast food chains in the world. Matt Damon is set to star in the film.
Maysh’s tale, entitled “How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions,” was first published on the The Daily Beast in late July. The true story makes Danny Ocean and the rest of his crew look like amateurs. The article tells the story of a Rhode Islander who received a check for one million dollars after collecting all of the Monopoly pieces in the long-running game that boasts odds of 1 in 250 million. The camera crew that showed up to catalogue Jacobson’s win was treated to a story of an FBI operation, 12 years of prize-grabbing, theft of over $24 million and a copy of People magazine.
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Deadline says the bidding war over rights to the film was between Fox for Ben Affleck, Universal for Kevin Hart, Warner Bros. for Steve Carell and friends and Netflix for Robert Downey Jr.
Affleck will reunite with Argo alum David Klawans, who is slated to be the executive producer for the film. Matt Reilly will be helming the movie for Fox and previously worked with Affleck on The Town when he was with Warner Bros. Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese are set to pen the script together. The writing duo collaborated on Zombieland and both Deadpool installments.
