Liar's Poker film in the works

I think that's a terrible idea. It's only going to ruin a great book, and things are so different now compared to the mid-80s that it's either going to suck or it's going to leave movie goers saying, "huh?".

I think he's a great writer, but I don't have high hopes for this movie.

Hope they cast it alot better the most recent re-make of wall street.

Lewie Ranieri = John Goodman

Lewis has been on a roll lately with all these film adaptations. Blind Side, Moneyball, and now Liar's Poker. Damn.

It was just fun to read, but nevertheless, I hated this book because the author exeggerated all situations.

The upcoming movie will exeggerate, too.

what was exaggerated? phones being smashed? gambling on the floor? gluttony? yelling, screaming, cursing? helicopters to AC? if you have worked with any of the ex-solly guys on the street (now, most are clustered in just a couple of banks) you know those things are not exaggerations.

Man all of you are extremely depressing cynics. I for one look forward to having a great book written about Wall Street being brought to the movies. Who cares if it's a little pokey? It's fun, get over it. Movies aren't meant to be driven 100% to a Wall St. audience. Sometimes a little 'push' is needed to persuade a larger audience into viewing things. Welcome to the movie business.

I don't think the new remake of Wall Street was all too bad either for the reasons posted above. Whatever man, it's Shia Lebeouf.. see past it, it's all fun.

Or wait you know what.. I'd rather have no great books about Wall St. brought to the movies because I'm too afraid that they will ruin the book. We all know the book is great. The movie isn't going to change that.

I'm just waiting for Margin Call.

Why does every good book these days have to have a film adaptation, sad reflection on the wider populous.

Also very keen for Margin Call.

~Spoiler warning: if you haven't read Liar's Poker~

I would love to see Liar's Poker as a movie and think it may educate the broader public on various areas of finance. Three interesting themes that most people would probably get a kick out of:

1.) How the mortgage market developed from a niche backwater product desk into the most profitable financial engine that drove Wall Street in the 1980s... The financial crisis brings the story to a full-circle especially since it is the evolution of this market that caused the markets to collapse in the 2008.

2.) How even the mighty are not invincible. The financial crisis showed how vulnerable even Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were and how independent investment banking models simply might work anymore. The 80s two powerhouse banks Salomon Brothers and Drexel Lambert don't exist anymore because Wall Street is fickle. Salomon Brothers was at the top of the world one day and then was fighting for survival just a few years later...

3.) How many people in finance don't really have a clue of what's going on. If you read about Michael Lewis' incoming associate class at Salomon Brothers, you'd think they were a bunch of high school kids. Even Ranieri's highly profitable mortgage desk was a bunch of unsophisticated / average traders who got lucky catching a good wave. It really was an instance of a blind squirrel finding a nut...

^^ Somewhat agree with your 3rd point. Ranieri was brilliant in that he was able to essentially develop a monopoly trading mortgage bonds but stupid in that he pissed it all away. I honestly don't think the mortgage trading floor at Salomon was "unsophisticaed / average" i just think Lewis exaggerates their personalities by describing their pranks, eating habits etc. and play into the idea that Salomon was THE bad ass place to be in the 80's. Ultimately Lewis is trying to sell books so he's going to make them sound as ridiculous as he can to create a good story.

Dream casting call for Liar's Poker time?

John Meriwether = Ed Norton? Lewie Ranieri = Paul Giamatti? (is he tall enough?) Milken = reminds me of that dude who played Biff in Back to the Future...