Ben Affleck and Matt Damon paid $1 million for the rights to the McDonald’s Monopoly game crime story.
Ben is set to direct Matt in the new movie – about an ex-cop who rigged the game, allegedly stealing over $24 million, and sharing it with a group of co-conspirators – and the pair paid a whopping $1 million for the rights to the article about it, written by Jeff Maysh, an L.A.-based journalist and true-crime author
Jeff is thrilled that Matt and Ben – who have previously worked together on a number of successful projects, including their 1997 hit ‘Good Will Hunting’ – wanted to adapt his article.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "Film producer David Klawans had previously teamed with Ben Affleck on ‘Argo’ and that was obviously a huge success, to say the least. There were so many other offers and big names but this one made me say, "Wow." I was thrilled at how passionate they are about the story."
While Matt will star in the movie, Jeff hopes they are able to recruit Sir Anthony Hopkins to also take part.
He said: "I obviously have zero input in casting. But the most interesting character for me is the veteran FBI investigator. He usually worked on boring wire frauds but was suddenly thrown into a world of Big Macs, mobsters, psychics and strip club owners! Sir Anthony Hopkins has the right kind of intensity I think."
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s 1m movie investment
