As the debate rages about whether or not “The Wolf Of Wall Street” glorifies the misdeeds of sleazy Wall Street scumbags without offering consideration for the victims in their path, folks can perhaps rest assured that the real life Jordan Belfort won’t make a dime off the movie or the book he wrote that it’s based on (though he’s already walked away with Leonardo DiCaprio filming a weird endorsement for the man himself).
The former financial fraudster hit Facebook (via JoBlo) earlier this week to address discussions about what he’s getting out of all this, and the answer? Nothing. Here’s what he had to say:
As you can imagine, I am very busy right now, but I owe this post to all my loyal friends and fans who have supported me since the beginning: For the record, I am not turning over 50% of the profits of the books and the movie, which was what the government had wanted me to do. Instead, I insisted on turning over 100% of the profits of both books and the movie, which is to say, I am not making a single dime on any of this. This should amount to countless millions of dollars and hopefully be more than enough to pay back anyone who is still out there. I thought this was already public information, as I have already said it publicly numerous times, but apparently there is so much NOISE right now that it has gotten lost in the shuffle. So, again, for the record: I am not making any royalties off the film or the books, and I am totally content with that. My income comes from new life, which is far better than my old one. (Although I will admit the Quaaludes were kind of fun, at least in the beginning. Thankfully, they’re illegal! and impossible to find!)
And while the film’s place in history and Martin Scorsese‘s filmography is still being established, it does have one dubious honor to hang on to for the moment. The folks over at Slashfilm have noted that “The Wolf Of Wall Street” contains 506 f-bombs over the course of 180 minutes, making it the most “fuck” filled movie ever. It breaks the record previously held by Spike Lee‘s “Summer Of Sam” which dropped it 435 times, so there’s a handy piece of trivia for you to impress someone with.
Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese recently stopped by to chat with THR, and when asked about what continues to attract him to profiling criminals in his work, the director (as always) gave a rather fascinating response that may explain why Belfort’s onscreen actions, as depraved as they are, seem so attractive.
“In many cases — not all — the pursuit of reinventing yourself in America is just something that ‘a confidence man’ [like Wolf’s Jordan Belfort] embraces. A confidence man takes your trust, takes your confidence and betrays you. And this is on all levels, whether it’s low-level street crime, a white-collar crime and even a crime in religious organizations. This is something that’s not going to go away if you don’t talk about it,” Scorsese said. “Your children are not going to stay clear of it. And God forbid that your kids do! Look, it’s out there. It’s about human nature. Certain social structures facilitate it and some don’t. Now looking at this unrestrained let me make this picture, you know? It’s different from, I don’t know, ‘Boardwalk Empire;’ when you’re dealing with the people in ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ you know what you’re into, you know? That’s that situation. But I think of the younger people. I think of the fact that yes, it’s funny — but the devil comes with a smile, you know? That’s the idea, you know? The confidence man’s got the charm! [laughs]”
“The Wolf Of Wall Street” is in theaters now, but the promo continues, with a new featurette from MovieTickets, a TV spot below and more new photos. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
