Jason Bateman to Star in and Direct IPO MAN
IPO Man sounds like it has a story that will make for a very entertaining movie. Jason Batman is set to star in and direct the film, which is based on a Wired magazine article titled, "Meet The Man Who Sold His Fate To Investors At $1 A Share." This is a true story, and Bateman will play a man who put himself up for public offering. This little experiment that he did created some interesting problems for the guy, Mike Merrill. Especially when "shareholders demanded control over life decisions like whether to have a vasectomy or even whether he should move in with his longtime girlfriend (and minority shareholder)." That doesn't sounds like the best way to live your life, but to each their own!
Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction, and this story is sure to make for a fantastically fascinating film. The script is being written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, who are also working on on Amazon’s new show Transparent, and they are developing a Mister Rogers movie for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris to direct. Here's a little more information on what Merrill put himself through with the stunt:
"Merrill got into an IPO niche that usually allows investors to pony up money for a cut of someone’s future earnings, for instance. Merrill put himself on the block at $1 per share for 100,000 shares, and sold 928 of them. He started as a curiosity, with friends, family members and his girlfriend buying in. He made it interesting in that even though he still owned the majority of himself, he made that non-voting stock, meaning his investors could decide how he would conduct himself professionally, like when he got a thumbs up on his decision to invest $79.63 in a Rwandan chicken farmer. The controls veered into his personal life and he lost his girlfriend, who felt like the loser in a takeover battle. Same majority shareholders then exerted input in his future attempts at a romantic merger (he was even set up with a guy at one point). He was still allowing his investors to call the [shots] when the article ended."
Bateman is the perfect talent to take on a project like this. I really liked his film Bad Words, which he also starred in and directed. This next project of his should turn out great.
Source: Deadline