'The Wolf of Wall Street' Reality Series in the Works
Credit: Stuart McEvoy
Could The Wolf of Wall Street be headed to TV?
Jordan Belfort, the real-life inspiration for the hard-partying financial scammer played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, is currently shopping around a reality series to TV networks. But the proposed reality show won't be a series that glorifies its subject's crimes, instead taking a redemptive angle towards Belfort. After serving 28 months for his crimes, Belfort became a successful motivational speaker, and continues in that career to this day, in Manhattan Beach, California.
In his bestselling 2007 memoir on which the movie of the same name is based, Belfort recounts the drug-fueled heights of his time as a financial con artist, swindling more than $110 million from investors throughout the 1990s. It was this memoir that attracted the attention of Electus? CEO Chris Grant.
“I knew without even seeing a picture of him that he could be a talent? both behind and in front of the camera,” says Grant, whose studio is responsible for such reality shows as Fashion Star and Mob Wives. Grant tracked down Belfort after reading his memoir, and worked directly with him in creating a pitch for the show tailored to the ex-con's "unique set of business skills."
Together, they have created a proposal for "an uplifting show that sees Belfort, now 51, stepping in to help others who, like him, have hit rock bottom but still hold out some hope for redemption." Interest is reportedly high for the project among the networks that have already met with Belfort -- at least according to Grant, who claims the reaction among TV execs towards Belfort’s magnetic personality has been enthusiastic. “He was described to ?us after leaving the room as ‘TV gold.'"