Jaw-Dropping Expose to Get the Affleck-Damon Treatment

Ben Affleck will direct, Matt Damon will star in movie about McDonald's Monopoly scam
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 3, 2018 6:34 AM CDT
Affleck and Damon's New Film: McDonald's Monopoly Scam
In this Aug. 10, 2015, file photo, Ben Affleck, left, and Matt Damon attend the "Project Greenlight" premiere of "The Leisure Class" in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP, File)

Jeff Maysh's deep dive in the Daily Beast about McDonald's rigged Monopoly prize contest is what everyone's been buzzing about the past few days—and which Fox now hopes will translate to Hollywood gold. Deadline reports the film studio nabbed the rights to Maysh's story over Warner Bros., Universal, and Netflix, and two big names are tied to the project: Ben Affleck in the director's chair and Matt Damon in a starring role. Deadpool writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese are set to put together the screenplay. Maysh's article details the eventually uncovered scandal of how a former cop stole game pieces in the well-known McDonald's contest and, with the help of a laundry list of seedy accomplices, swindled $24 million.

The Hollywood Reporter notes the last film under Affleck's directorial domain was the crime drama Live by Night in 2016. While headlines are already being generated at this newest Affleck-Damon matchup, Chris Evangelista notes for the /Film blog he's feeling "conflicted" about the news. "I'm not so sure this is the team to make it happen," he writes. "I couldn't help but think this was the type of narrative tailor-made for Martin Scorsese. It basically reads like The Wolf of Wall Street set in the world of McDonald's Monopoly. … The Coen brothers also could've done something amazing with this material." (More Ben Affleck stories.)

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