By Gail Dutton
For example, when New Line Cinema and a collection of additional production companies greenlit an IT remake, nostalgia and technology played a part in the reasoning. With horror fans still enraptured by Stephen King’s creation and Tim Curry’s 1990 performance still stirring up emotions, there was a market for the demonic clown. Beyond that, advances in cinematography, CGI and post-production meant that a new director could take a movie remake into a darker place than the original. While some critics will argue whether the end product justified a remake, it grossed $372 million at the box office.
While IT’s enduring hold on fright fans was enough to generate a remake, the reasons behind a Wall Street revival are arguably less obvious. When Michael Douglas assumed the role of Gordon Gekko and gave us a glimpse into the rock and roll world of trading, he captured the zeitgeist of that decade. With yuppies and big money bankers en vogue during the eighties, the decision to release Wall Street was a shrewd one. However, if we fast-forward to 2013 and a post-recession world where financial types are reviled, the decision to revisit the Wall Street theme are less clear. However, as you’d expect, Hollywood never makes a move without a good reason and, if you look closely, there are some interesting factors that helped The Wolf of Wall Street become a reality.
Online Trading Trend Revives Wall Street Fever
Perhaps the most significant yet least obvious motivating factor was the growth of online trading. Prior to the advent of the internet, Gekko-type traders were men in suits hauled up in a high-rise office somewhere in one of the world’s leading financial districts. However, when online trading first became possible in 1994, it changed the industry. By 2000, the commodity monetisation act made it easier to trade both security and currency derivatives such as forex. Combine this with specialised software such as MetaTrader and it was soon possible for brokerages to offer inexperienced traders an easy way to invest. Indeed, as it is today, any adult with an internet connection can go online and play the forex market with low spreads, leverage and guaranteed stops. On top of this, novices can watch video tutorials, read daily reports and receive updates from industry experts. In other words, the growth of online trading has not only changed the industry but made it more accessible.
Through the advent of this new technology, daily forex trading volumes hit an all-time high of $5.09 trillion in 2013 according to Reuters, the same year The Wolf of Wall Street was released. In essence, even though it wasn’t as obvious, Martin Scorsese’s retelling of Belfort’s story was a sign of the times. However, unlike the eighties when it was all big money, trench coats and oversized mobile phones, today’s traders were doing their business online. In fact, this may have played a part in DiCaprio’s love for the story. After he and Scorsese won the movie rights in 2006, it looked as though the film wouldn’t get made. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter back in 2014, Belfort explained that making his story into a movie was a bumpy ride.
The DiCaprio Effect
“When Marty and Leo commit to something, it doesn’t mean it’s getting done. And then the problems start,” Belfort told The Hollywood Reporter.
With Paramount and Warner Brothers at loggerheads over the project, things stalled and gradually the rights started to expire. However, with DiCaprio’s help, things eventually started to move. Essentially seeing something in the scripts that others had missed, the Oscar-winning actor pushed Scorsese to make the movie. Picking up on both the zeitgeist and the inherent drama of Belfort’s life as a high-rolling, if not slightly unethical trader, DiCaprio eventually got it over the line. Although he didn’t win his Oscar for best actor on that occasion, he did come close.
However, beyond his own fortunes, the movie is an example of how an old theme can come back into fashion. When an original is remade or a classic trope is revived, movie-goers often assume it’s a cash grab. Although there may be some truth in that, the roots of inspiration, as we’ve shown, often run a little deeper than that.
Main picture credit: “L1006328_v1” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Sigfrid Lundberg
