The “Girls” creator is turning a very controversial boy’s life story into a film.
Lena Dunham is set to bring the rise and fall of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to the screen for an upcoming Apple Original film in partnership with A24. Dunham will adapt the screenplay from Michael Lewis’ New York Times bestselling book, “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.”
Lewis’ past books “Moneyball” and “The Big Short” were also previously adapted to the screen. The official description of “Going Infinite” reads: “The book tells the story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center. When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking 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. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own―until it all came undone.”
The book was released in October 2023. Its film project will be co-produced and co-developed by Apple Studios and A24.
FTX was founded in 2019 and became one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platforms. However, just three years later in 2022, Bankman-Fried was indicted and convicted of charges of fraud and money laundering after billions of dollars of funds were discovered to be missing.
This isn’t Dunham’s first project that touched on the financial world, as the Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee directed the pilot of “Industry.” Dunham is also writing and directing Netflix rom-com series “Too Much” starring Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, which is inspired by Dunham’s real-life romance with her musician husband Luis Felber, with whom she co-created the series. She has a college-centric spy series in the works at Netflix, too.
Dunham also recently cowrote and directed two 2022 films, “Catherine Called Birdy” and “Sharp Stick.” She additionally announced that she will no longer be directing the “Polly Pocket” film for Mattel.
Dunham is repped by CAA, ID PR and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
“Going Infinite” is the latest film collaboration between Apple Original Films and A24. Other titles include the upcoming Spike Lee-Denzel Washington film “High and Low” and Jennifer Lawrence murder mystery, “The Wives.” Past collaborations include “Sharper,” “On The Rocks,” “Underrated: Stephen Curry,” and “Sunny.”
