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Dumb Money

Dumb Money is a 2023 American biographical comedy-drama film, directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo. It is based on the 2021 book The Antisocial Network by Ben Mezrich and chronicles the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, and Seth Rogen.

Dumb Money
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCraig Gillespie
Written by
  • Lauren Schuker Blum
  • Rebecca Angelo
Based onThe Antisocial Network
by Ben Mezrich
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNikolas Karakatsanis
Edited byKirk Baxter
Music byWill Bates
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08) (TIFF)
  • September 15, 2023 (2023-09-15) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million[3]
Box office$20.7 million[4][5]

After being filmed in New Jersey from October to November 2022, Dumb Money premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023. It was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing in select theaters on September 15, 2023, and wide release on September 29, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $20 million worldwide.

Plot

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Keith Gill is a middle-class man working as a financial analyst in Brockton, Massachusetts. During his spare time, he regularly frequents the stock market subreddit r/WallStreetBets, posting his opinions via YouTube live streams under the name Roaring Kitty. He struggles to provide for his family, and his brother Kevin constantly mocks his YouTube work as nerdy garbage.

In July 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keith notices that video game retailer GameStop's stock is falling. He sinks his life savings into buying stock in it, regularly live-streaming updates with his viewers. Despite Kevin and several peers claiming this is a waste of time, by January 2021, activity on r/WallStreetBets reveals that several hedge fund investment firms, including Melvin Capital Management and its founder Gabe Plotkin, have been short selling stock in the chain on the assumption it would close, causing a mass increase in GameStop's overall stock price when online stock buyers, including struggling nurse Jennifer, GameStop retail employee Marcos, and lesbian University of Texas at Austin couple Riri and Harmony, start aggressively buying stock, causing Plotkin and other investment CEOs to lose hundreds of millions within the same timeframe. Keith is heralded as a financial guru.

Things take a turn when r/WallStreetBets is temporarily shut down for "inflammatory and vulgar content", causing a mass surge of panic selling in GameStop's stock in an attempt to beat a perceived price drop. When the commission-free stock trading website Robinhood is unable to pay the money for the sales adequately, co-chairman Vlad Tenev, at the behest of Citadel LLC owner Ken Griffin, halts all purchasing of GameStop's stock until Robinhood shores up adequate capital to cover outstanding NSCC requirements created due to the level of purchases. They raise the $3–4 billion necessary, but the subsequent negative backlash results in an investigation by the United States House Committee on Financial Services, with Tenev, Griffin, Plotkin, and Keith all being subpoenaed, the former three for their roles in the fiasco and the latter on suspicion of using the situation to trick the public into making himself rich. As the investors struggle to defend their actions, Keith adamantly denies any wrongdoing, stating he was only doing what anyone with a passing awareness of investment banking would do in that situation.

In the aftermath, post text shows how several of the individuals were affected: Plotkin was forced to shut down Melvin Capital because of the net losses the incident caused; Robinhood was the target of several lawsuits following the fiasco and wound up starting in the stock market significantly lower than it was prior; Harmony was able to use the money she obtained to pay off her family's debt issues and continues her relationship with Riri; Marcos sold half of his GameStop stock and quit his position in the company; Jennifer remains in debt but has retained her shareholding; Keith retired from YouTube in late April to get out of the public eye and sold part of his stocks to get Kevin an expensive car as a way to stop his nagging about how he will not loan him his car for his food deliveries.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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In January 2021, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) had bought the rights to a book proposal by Ben Mezrich about the then-recent GameStop short squeeze, entitled The Antisocial Network, with producers Michael De Luca—who also produced The Social Network (2010), the film adaptation of Mezrich's book The Accidental Billionaires—and Aaron Ryder attached.[7] In May 2021, Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo were announced to write the screenplay, with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (who were subjects in The Accidental Billionaires and The Social Network) executive producing through their Winklevoss Pictures banner.[8] In April 2022, Craig Gillespie signed on as director, with the intention of filming to start later that year around summer or fall.[9] In September, it was announced that the film was retitled to Dumb Money, and production was set to commence in October, with De Luca and MGM dropping out, while Black Bear Pictures acquired financing and sought buyers at the annual Toronto International Film Festival.[10] In October 2022, Sony Pictures bought distribution rights to the film in the United States, Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and select Asian countries including India for $20 million.[11]

Casting

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In September 2022, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan and Pete Davidson were set to star; Rogen and Stan previously collaborated with Gillespie on the miniseries Pam & Tommy (2022), with Stan also having starred in Gillespie's film I, Tonya (2017).[10] The following month, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dane DeHaan, Myha'la Herrold, America Ferrera, Rushi Kota, Nick Offerman, and Talia Ryder joined the cast.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Filming

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Principal photography occurred in New Jersey from October to November 2022.[18] Filming was done in Morris, Essex and Hudson counties, with scenes filmed at Saint Elizabeth University.[18]

Challenges

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Most of the characters in the film wore masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and never met in real life. To bring them together without physical proximity, writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo drew inspiration from screenwriter Frank Capra and films such as The Social Network. The result was a technical drama in the tradition of Moneyball (2011) and The Big Short (2015) but centered around Internet populism, as if Capra's Mr. Smith had gone to Reddit.[19]

Music

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Main article: Dumb Money (soundtrack)

Composed by Will Bates, the soundtrack was released on September 22, 2023.

Release

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Dumb Money premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2023, with the cast unable to attend due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[20] It was released theatrically in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Columbia Pictures and Stage 6 Films labels,[21] while Sony, Black Bear International and other local distributors released it internationally.[11][13] The film was initially set to be distributed by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM).[22] A release date of October 20, 2023, was initially announced,[23] before being moved up to September 22, 2023.[1][24] It was later changed to a limited theatrical release on September 15, 2023, before expanding to a wide release on September 29, 2023.[25][26]

Dumb Money was released on digital platforms on November 7, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on December 12.[27]

Reception

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Box office

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Dumb Money has grossed $13.9 million in the United States and Canada and $6.8 million in other territories, for a total of $20.7 million worldwide.[4]

In the United States and Canada, Dumb Money was released alongside A Haunting in Venice and made $229,947 from eight theaters in its opening weekend.[28] Expanding to 616 theaters in its second weekend, the film made $2.4 million, finishing in eighth.[29] In its third weekend the film made $3.3 million from 2,837 theaters, finishing in seventh.[30] It then made $2.1 million and $930,000 in the subsequent two weekends.[31][32]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 232 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Dumb Money's crowd-pleasing dramatization of real-life stock hijinks may not tell the complete story, but it's rousingly entertaining nonetheless."[33] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[34]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Celebration of Cinema & Television December 4, 2023 Groundbreaker Award America Ferrera (also for Barbie) Won [35]
Cinema for Peace Awards February 18–19, 2024 Cinema for Peace Dove for The Most Valuable Film of the Year 2024 Dumb Money Nominated [36][37]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hines, Patrick (June 21, 2023). "Bad Bunny's Spider-Man Universe Movie 'El Muerto' Pulled From Sony Release Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Dumb Money (15)". BBFC. September 11, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  3. ^ Barnes, Brooks (September 8, 2023). "'Dumb Money' Lampoons Wall Street Titans With a Knowing Eye". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Dumb Money". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 24, 2023. 
  5. ^ "Dumb Money". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Breznican, Anthony (June 21, 2023). "Dumb Money First Look: The GameStop Stock Frenzy Is Now a Movie". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 31, 2021). "MGM Lands Rights To Ben Mezrich's Book Proposal 'The Antisocial Network'; Would Chronicle Recent Wall Street-GameStop Chaos". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 11, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  8. ^ Kroll, Justin (May 21, 2023). "MGM Sets 'Orange Is The New Black' Scribes Lauren Schuker Blum And Rebecca Angelo To Pen GameStop Stock Pic 'The Antisocial Network'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  9. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 4, 2022). "Craig Gillespie To Direct GameStop Stock Pic For MGM Based On Ben Mezrich's Book 'The Antisocial Network'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (September 1, 2022). "Craig Gillespie and Black Bear Pictures GameStop Stock Pic Dumb Money Sets A-List Cast With Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan And Pete Davidson, Black Bear To Launch Sales at Toronto". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Wiseman, Andreas (October 12, 2022). "Sony Swoops On Buzzy GameStop Movie 'Dumb Money' With Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Pete Davidson & Shailene Woodley; Filming Underway". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 6, 2022). "Shailene Woodley Joins Ensemble Cast of Craig Gillespie's 'Dumb Money' For Black Bear Pictures". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (October 17, 2022). "Anthony Ramos, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dane DeHaan Join Sony and Black Bear's GameStop Film 'Dumb Money'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  14. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (October 18, 2022). "'Industry' Star Myha'la Herrold Joins Cast Of Sony & Black Bear's Starry GameStop Movie 'Dumb Money'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 21, 2022). "America Ferrera Rounds Out Cast Of Sony And Black Bear's GameStop Film 'Dumb Money'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 24, 2022). "'Never Have I Ever's Rushi Kota Boards Sony's 'Dumb Money'; Russo Brothers' Netflix Pic 'The Electric State' Adds 'C'mon C'mon' Breakout Woody Norman". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  17. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (October 31, 2022). "Parks And Recreation Star Nick Offerman & Never Rarely Sometimes Always Lead Talia Ryder Join GameStop Pic Dumb Money". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Kuperinsky, Amy (October 27, 2022). "Dumb Money movie with all-star cast including Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson filming at N.J. college". NJ.com. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  19. ^ Blum, Lauren Schuker; Angelo, Rebecca (December 13, 2023). "How do you make an online community vibrant? Invent a new language of cinema, of course". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 24, 2023). "TIFF Lineup Unveiled Amid Strikes: Awards Contenders 'Dumb Money', 'The Holdovers', 'Rustin'; Starry Pics For Sale With Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, Michael Keaton, Viggo Mortensen & More". Deadline Hollywood.
  21. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (February 22, 2023). "Sony Pictures' Stage 6 Films Wins Rights To A24 & Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid' In UK & Other Markets: EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  22. ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - The Antisocial Network". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 17, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  23. ^ Grobar, Matt (March 10, 2023). "Sony's GameStop Short Squeeze Film 'Dumb Money' Sets Fall Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  24. ^ Couch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (June 21, 2023). "Sony Removes Bad Bunny Spider-Man Spinoff 'El Muerto' From Calendar". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  25. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 16, 2023). "Sony Opts To Platform 'Dumb Money' On Fall Sked". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  26. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 6, 2023). "Sony's 'Dumb Money' Distancing From Taylor Swift On Release Date Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  27. ^ "Dumb Money (2023)". DVDs Release Dates. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  28. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 18, 2023). "'Nun 2' Scares Off Poirot To Become Mother Superior Of Box Office With $14.7M Second Weekend". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  29. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 24, 2023). "The Nun 2' Puts 'The Expendables' In Detention At Box Office In What's Shaping Up To Be A Low Weekend For 2023 At $52M". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  30. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 1, 2023). "'PAW Patrol 2' Is The Top Dog At Box Office With $23M Opening – Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  31. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 8, 2023). "The Devil Is In The Details: Making Sense Of 'The Exorcist: Believer's $27M+ Opening After Universal & Blumhouse Shelled Out $400M For Franchise – Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  32. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 15, 2023). "No Bad Blood, Just Mad Love: 'Taylor Swift: Eras Tour' Still Eyeing Record October Opening With $95M-$97M – Box Office Update Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  33. ^ "Dumb Money". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 29, 2023.  
  34. ^ "Dumb Money". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  35. ^ "The Critics Choice Association Announces Honorees for the Celebration of Cinema & Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements – Critics Choice Awards". Critics Choice Association. November 13, 2023. Archived from the original on December 21, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  36. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (February 12, 2024). "Pope Francis, Hillary Clinton & Ban Ki-Moon to Be Feted at Berlin Cinema for Peace Gala Alongside Works Protecting Jewish Life & Sharon Stone Art". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  37. ^ "Cinema for Peace Doves 2024". Cinema for Peace Foundation. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
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