EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo have signed on to write MGM’s adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s The Antisocial Network, which tells one of the biggest news stories of the year, about a ragtag group of amateur investors, gamers and Internet trolls who brought Wall Street to its knees. MGM landed the rights to Mezrich’s book proposal back in January, only a week after the true-life story began taking shape on Wall Street with multiple projects following including a Netflix one starring Noah Centineo.
The project brings MGM’s Michael DeLuca back together with Mezrich, author of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, which was adapted into the Oscar-winning The Social Network that DeLuca produced.
Academy Award nominee Aaron Ryder of Ryder Picture Company, who recently signed a first-look film deal with MGM, will produce. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will executive produce via their Winklevoss Pictures production banner.
The project is known to be a priority for MGM’s DeLuca and Pamela Abdy. Johnny Pariseau will oversee for the studio.
Grand Central Publishing acquired The Antisocial Network in a preempt in February. The book will be published in hardcover, e-book and an audio edition by Hachette Audio in the fall.
Schuker Blum and Angelo first got their start cutting their teeth in the Orange is the New Black writers room. With the show recently ending, the writing duo have been brought on to pen a number of pics including Ryan Gosling’s Wolfman at Universal.
Mezrich has written more than 20 books, with well over 6 million copies sold. His books including Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent 63 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted for the screen with the film 21. The Accidental Billionaires spent 18 weeks on the NYT bestseller list and appeared on hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin share a Scripter Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network. Mezrich is the only non-fiction author to have two adaptations open No. 1 at the box office.
His book Bitcoin Billionaires was an international bestseller and is being made into a motion picture, as is The Midnight Ride, a novella that was originally published in serialized form by the Boston Globe and will be released by Grand Central in January 2022. The feature rights have been acquired by Amblin Partners.
CAA reps Schuker Blum, Angelo and Mezrich. Management 360, and The Nord Group also rep Schuker Blum and Angelo.