Apple Studios and A24 are teaming up to bring the story of Sam Bankman-Fried to the big screen, adapting Michael Lewis’ book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon into a feature film. American writer and director Lena Dunham is expected to pen the script for the film, featuring the rise and fall of Bankman-Fried.
Lewis released his book on SBF in October 2023, coinciding with the FTX founder’s first criminal trial. His book faced criticism for allegedly portraying a minimized impact of Bankman-Fried’s fraud. Critics argued that Lewis underplayed the catastrophic effects on millions of investors who lost access to billions of dollars. Reportedly, Lewis wrote his book through his personal experience with SBF, where he spent 12 months with the founder of FTX. The book’s description says that Lewis takes “readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system.”
FTX, a once-prominent crypto exchange, collapsed in November 2022, following which founder Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven charges. With charges including fraud and conspiracy, SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Notably, Apple secured the film rights to Lewis’ book for $5 million in September 2023, a month before the book’s release. In addition to Apple’s biopic on SBF, eight Hollywood projects on the criminal-turned-billionaire are currently in development. As per reports, Amazon is behind an exclusive series of eight episodes on FTX’s downfall, which is expected to be produced by the Russo brothers’ AGBO.
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Reportedly, American director Nanette Burstein is also planning to release a documentary about Bankman-Fried. Burstein is best known for his 2020 documentary film Hillary about Hillary Clinton.
