Greg Silverman, a former President of Warner Bros. Pictures and the Founder/CEO of independent content creation company Stampede Ventures is working with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — who are co-founders of digital asset exchange Gemini — to produce a feature film adaption of the 2019 book “Bitcoin Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich.
According to a report by Variety, Silverman, who “launched Stampede Ventures after departing from Warner Bros. Pictures in 2016”, hired Jonathan Berg (his former colleague at Warners Bros. Pictures) on March 13 as President of Production. Berg’s producer credits include “Elf”, “Doctor Sleep”, “Justice League”, “Wonder Woman”, “The Dark Knight Rises”, and “Aquaman”.
Mezrich’s first book about the Winklevoss Twins, “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook“, was originally published in 2019, and was used adapted by Columbia Pictures for the 2010 David Fincher film “The Social Network“. It told the story of how Harvard University student Mark Zuckberg took an idea from the twins and turned it into social networking site Facebook. This resulted in a legal battle between the twins and Facebook.
In “Bitcoin Billionaires”, Mezrich’s second book about the Winklevoss twins, he tells the story of what happened to the twins following the end of their legal battle with Facebook, and more specifically how they got into the crypto space.
This text is from the book’s back cover:
“Bitcoin Billionaires is the story of the brothers’ redemption and revenge in the wake of their epic legal battle with Facebook – and the first great book from the world of bitcoin.
“Planning to start careers as venture capitalists, the brothers quickly discover that no one will take their money for fear of alienating Zuckerberg.
“While nursing their wounds in Ibiza, they accidentally run into a shady character who tells them about a brand new idea: cryptocurrency.
“Immersing themselves in what is then an obscure and sometimes sinister world, they begin to realize ‘crypto’ is, in their own words, ‘either the next big thing or total bulls–t.’ There’s nothing left to do but make a bet.
“From the Silk Road to the halls of the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Facebook boardroom, Bitcoin Billionaires will take us on a wild and surprising ride while illuminating a tantalizing economic future.
“On 26 November 2017, the Winklevoss brothers became the first bitcoin billionaires. Here’s the story of how they got there – as only Ben Mezrich could tell it.”
Silverman told Deadline:
“I have known Cameron and Tyler for years. Last summer my son, Caleb, was fortunate enough to intern at Winklevoss Capital and the twins shared an early copy of Bitcoin Billionaires with him.
“Caleb and I traded the book back and forth on a summer trip, devouring it in a couple of days. Upon finishing it, it was clear to both of us that Cameron and Tyler’s remarkable redemption story, coupled with Ben’s masterful writing, would lend itself to a one of a kind movie…
“This is Rocky II meets Wall Street in a world filled with unique and mesmerizing characters…”
As for the Winklevoss twins, they told Deadline:
“Ben immediately understood the promise of cryptocurrency and was serious about telling its story to the world. Whether you are a longtime HODLer or have just arrived, we think you will enjoy the colorful, frontier days of the cryptocurrency revolution that Ben Mezrich has deftly captured in Bitcoin Billionaires.
“We look forward to sharing this story and bringing the early days of this revolution to theaters in partnership with Stampede Ventures.”
Of course, the restrictions currently in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic are going to make it very challenging to get a movie made this year, but whenever this movie gets released, it is bound to increase mainstream awareness of crypto in general and Bitcoin in particular.
