With the economy in a shambles, the timing seems perfect for filmmakers, both fiction and non-fiction, to move forward with projects that tackle both the dramatic elements and the moral implications of Wall Street's activities.
Oliver Stone is currently at work on a sequel to Wall Street, his award-winning 1987 movie about a naive young broker (played by Charlie Sheen) who gets taken under the wing of the monstrous bigwig Gordon "Greed Is Good" Gekko (played by Michael Douglas). Douglas went on to win an Oscar for his performance, and to many audiences, Gekko remains one of the most vile-yet-charismatic villains ever portrayed on screen.
Thankfully, Douglas is on board for the sequel, which is tentatively titled Money Never Sleeps. Also confirmed are Shia LaBeouf and Javier Bardem in unspecified roles. The plot reportedly has Gekko being released from prison into a broken market, caused in part by more than 20 years of avarice on the Wall Street so familiar to him.
In a recent interview with Variety, Stone spoke about Gekko, who he expects will still be "a larger-than-life character" to audiences:
Like Tony Montana [in Brian De Palma's Scarface], even 20 years later, I get more reactions to him than most characters in my films.
Stone also talked about the relationship between Michael Douglas and his character, and also the way Gekko will fit into the sequel:
The consistency between Gordon Gekko and Michael Douglas was in their charisma and passion, except that Gekko's motives were malevolent. But both are survivors — men who find a way to succeed, who have willed themselves to second acts in their lives. Here's a guy who fell from grace but never lost his ambition and voracity for success. He's a quintessentially American story. And seeing how he manages to survive in this new shark tank 22 years later is a fascinating and challenging proposition. So much has changed. Not just Gordon Gekko. The world, too.
While we wait for Money Never Sleeps, due out in February, we can turn to Michael Moore for a non-fiction version of sorts. His latest project focuses on the recent collapse of the global market and the greed that accelerated its demise. Originally, Moore talked about doing a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, but with Bush out of office and the economy in its worst shape since the early '80s, a change of focus seemed appropriate.
Last night, USA Today posted excerpts from an interview with Moore along with a new image from the movie. Moore says he's not as interested in being informative as he is in showing the absurdities of Wall Street's behavior:
The movie is not going to be an economics lesson; it's going to be more
like a vampire movie. Instead of the main characters feasting on the blood of their victims, they feast on the money. And they never seem to get enough of it.
If nothing else, the movie should offer a welcome chance for people to collectively exorcise a lot of pent up anger and frustration.