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Two movies about the GameStop stock controversy in the pipeline

GameStop stock graph is seen in front of the company's logo in this illustration taken February 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
GameStop stock graph (Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

There are now two movies in the planning stages about the controversial GameStop stock controversy, which sent the US stock market reeling last week.

Users of the WallStreetBets Reddit page sent hedge funds which had shorted the stock of US video game shop chain GameStop into freefall, after users were urged to buy stock and drive up the price, meaning that those who had bet its stock would fall then had to cover their losses.

Read more: Investors storm GameStop and silver

It meant that stocks in the unremarkable hight street fixture rocketed 135% in one day, and more than 800% over a quarter.

One fund, Melvin Capital, lost 53% in January, according to reports, its assets standing at $12.5 billion at the beginning of last year, and down to $8 billion currently.

A person walks past a GameStop in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
A GameStop store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York (Credit: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

According to Deadline Mark Boal, the screenwriter behind The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, is working up a project for Netflix.

Noah Centino, star of To All The Boys The Boys I've Loved Before, is said to be attached to a major role in the movie.

Noah Centineo arrives for the world premiere of the film "Charlie's Angels" in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 11, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Noah Centineo (Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)

Scott Galloway, an NYU professor and activist who has been extremely vocal and highly critical of the GameStop phenomenon, is to consult on the movie too.

Netflix is yet to comment on the matter.

The news comes after it emerged that last week that MGM had optioned a yet-to-be written book about the controversy by Ben Mezrich.

Read more: GameStop shares collapse

Mezrich has significant form in this area, having penned The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal in 2009.

Famously, the book was the basis for David Fincher's Oscar-winning The Social Network.

And it would not be the first time that stock market shorting has made it to the big screen – notably in Adam McKay's The Big Short from 2015, which centred on the 2008 housing crash.

Watch: MGM planning GameStop movie