Close to two years after the collapse of Lehmann Brothers, Hollywood is starting to respond to the financial crisis that shook the world at the end of 2008. Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” hits in September after middling reviews at Cannes, and a handful of other projects, from HBO’s “Too Big To Fail” to an adaptation of the stage play “Enron” are all in the works. But one of the most promising is the drama “Margin Call.”
The picture, which is currently filming, follows eight people at a financial firm during the first 24 hours of the crisis, and already has a promising cast on board, including Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Mary McDonnell and Penn Badgley (“Gossip Girl,” apparently). Now they’ve been joined by one more, in the shape of Jeremy Irons, who’ll play the chief executive of the company.
Quinto himself is producing the picture, and kudos to him for assembling an ensemble like this one first time out the gate. It’s being written and directed by JC Chandor, who was behind a Will Arnett-starring short in 2004 called “Despacito.” Of course, there’s no sign if Joe Public want to go and see movies about the mess but we’ll see when “Wall Street” hits theaters. [Deadline]