Deadline brings word that Ben Affleck (The Town), Matt Damon (The Martian), and Fox have won the rights to an article written by Jeff Maysh titled “How An Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game And Stole Millions” after an intense auction. Affleck is set to direct the feature based on the true crime story that was published in The Daily Beast, with Damon set to star.
The true story centers on an ex-cop, Jerome Jacobson, in Rhode Island who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly Game and allegedly stole over $24 million. Jacobson apparently shared the stolen money with a group of co-conspirators who offered bribes to the ex-cop. Maysh’s article details how Jacobson fell under the FBI’s gaze after years of he and his network illegally rigging the game to steal millions. Using undercover agents, the FBI sent in a camera crew to Jacobson’s home to listen to his fraudulent story of how he supposedly legitimately won the game, recording every lie.
Jacobson, who acted as head of security for a Los Angeles company that was responsible for generating the game pieces, worked with an interesting group of co-conspirators that consisted of mobsters, a psychic, strip-club owners, drug traffickers, and even a Mormon family who helped steal $24 million in cash and prizes.
The film based on the McDonald’s Monopoly Game theft will be written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool) and produced by The Pearl Street partners. David Klawans (Argo) is set to executive produce the feature. Matt Reilly will oversee the project for Fox while Madison Ainley steers it for Pearl Street.
Among the names and studios who lined up to bid on the rights to the article include Universal for Kevin Hart, Warner Bros for John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, Steve Carell, producer Andrew Lazar, Netflix, Eric Newman, Bryan Unkeless, Robert Downey Jr. & Susan Downey, and Todd Phillips, but they all ultimately lost to Affleck, Damon, and Fox.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
