Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is an upcoming 2010 American drama/thriller film directed by Oliver Stone. The film is a sequel to the 1987 Academy Award-winning film Wall Street, and the first sequel Stone has directed. Michael Douglas will reprise his role as Gordon Gekko in the film. The film will also star Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Eli Wallach, Susan Sarandon, Vanessa Ferlito and Frank Langella in supporting roles.

Set in New York City, the film takes place 23 years after the original, revolving around the 2008 stock market crash. The film's plot mainly centers around Gekko acting as more of an anti-hero rather than a villain and follows his attempts to help Wall Street before its soon-to-be stock market crash as well as trying to repair his relationship with his daughter Winnie with the help of Jacob, Winnie's fiance. In return, Gekko helps Jacob get revenge on the man he blames for his mentor's death.

The film's story and screenplay are written by Bryan Burrough, Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff, respectively. The film will be produced by Stone, Douglas, Edward R. Pressman, co-produced by Eric Kopeloff and executive produced by Alessandro Camen and Celia D. Costas. On September 9, 2009, the film began principal photography in Midtown, New York City, New York and is expected to continue filming for a few more months. Despite originally having a tentative February 2010, release date, it was reported that the film is currently set to be released theatrically on April 21, 2010, in Belgium and will be released in the United States and the United Kingdom two days later.

The official trailer for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was released on the Internet on January 28, 2010 and was shown in theaters with Edge of Darkness and When in Rome. 20th Century Fox has also released the official website, as well as the poster for the film.

Plot
The film is set 23 years after the first film, in June 2008, and Gordon Gekko has just been released from prison. Despite his initial attempts to warn Wall Street of the forthcoming economic downturn and stock market crash, no one believes him due to his reduced standing in the financial world. Gekko decides to re-focus his attention on rebuilding his relationship with his estranged daughter, Winnie. Due to their time apart, and the fact that Winnie blames Gekko for her brother Rudy's suicide, she avoids any contact with him. At the same time, the mentor of young Wall Street trader Jacob unexpectedly dies, and Jacob suspects his hedge fund manager of being involved in the death. Jacob, who is Winnie's fiance, seeks revenge and agrees to Gekko's offer of help, in return for which Jacob agrees to help Gekko with Winnie.

Cast and characters

 * Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko. In the film, Gekko has recently been released from prison and, after a failed attempt to warn business leaders of the imminent economic downturn, he decides to try to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter Winnie. Stone said "it was as if the role was custom-made for the actor" and added that "the consistency between Gordon Gekko and Michael Douglas was in their charisma and passion, except that Gekko's motives were malevolent" and "both are survivors... men who find a way to succeed, who have willed themselves to second acts in their lives." Despite originally being the antagonist in the first film Gekko will now be something of a protagonist.
 * Shia LaBeouf as Jacob "Jake" Moore. In the film LaBeouf plays an "ambitious, young Wall Street trader" who is engaged to Winnie. After the death of his mentor, Jacob begins to suspect that his hedge fund manager was responsible. Seeking revenge, he asks Gekko for help, in exchange for which he will help Gekko reconcile with his daughter. LaBeouf's role in the film has been said to be "a role similar to that of Charlie Sheen’s in the original." LaBeouf said of playing the role that "I don't know what ... a credit derivative is,", adding that "I have no idea. I don't know what a Cpo is. Ipb. Lvc. You gotta know ticker names." LaBeouf also said of playing the role and of the film's background of the financial world that he has “no concept” of the "ins and outs of the financial world." LaBeouf stated, as part of getting into character, he chose to stay "skinny" because "hedge funders are big in cardio" and they are "lean."
 * Josh Brolin as Bretton James. Bretton James is Jacob's hedge fund manager, who Jacob suspects is involved in the death of Jacob's mentor. The character in the film has been described as being the "villian" and will serve as the antagonist. In September 2009, Stone confirmed Brolin's casting and also confirmed the characters name. Brolin stated that he had to lose 30 pounds in a month to be able to physically prepare for his role.
 * Carey Mulligan as Winnie Gekko. In the film, Winnie is the estranged daughter of Gekko and Jacob's fiancee. It has been reported that "Winnie hasn't spoken to her father Gordon in 11 years while he was away in prison", and that "Winnie and Gordon's relationship is estranged since she blames her father for the suicide of her brother Rudy." British actress Mulligan had to speak with an American accent for her role.
 * Eli Wallach as TBA.
 * Frank Langella as Lewis Zabel. In the film, Lewis Zabel, commonly referred to as Jacob's mentor, will serve as a supporting character. According to Variety, Zabel's "fate ultimately leads the characters to discover the shady practices of Brolin’s hedge fund manager part."
 * Susan Sarandon as Sylvia Moore.  Sylvia is Jacob's mother.
 * Vanessa Ferlito as Audrey. Stone described the character Audrey as "a tough, intelligent trader in the Wall Street trenches."
 * Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox. In the film Sheen will reprise his role as Bud Fox in a cameo appearance.
 * Jim Cramer as TBA. Stone stated that Cramer will make a brief appearance in the film, but didn't say whether or not Cramer will appear as himself or a character.
 * Natalie Morales as TBA.
 * John Bedford Lloyd as Bill Clark.

Development
In early 2007, The New York Times reported that a Wall Street sequel, then tentatively titled Money Never Sleeps had entered pre-production and was in the early stages of development with a screenplay by Stephen Schiff. Shortly after the film was confirmed, Douglas was reported to be interested in reprising his role as Gordon Gekko, depending on the script. In October 2008 20th Century Fox announced that it had officially green-lit the film, and would serve as a distributor. In the same month it was announced that writer Allan Loeb, whose notable work as a writer includes Things We Lost in the Fire, 21, as well as creating the television show New Amsterdam, had been "tapped" to write a  script that was being referred to as a "page one rewrite", meaning that he would be starting "from scratch" on the script. According to one of the film's writers Stanley Weiser, director Oliver Stone had been working on a script for the sequel before going on to direct W., and had originally wanted the film to take place in China. Shortly after the film had entered pre-production, it was announced and confirmed that both Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah, who had appeared in the first film Wall Street, would not be involved with the sequel, though when confirming that Hannah and Sheen weren't reprising their roles they didn't state a reason. It had been implied that Sheen wasn't expected to reprise his role in the sequel because LaBeouf's role in the film would be similar to Sheen's role in the first film. Despite openly stating that Sheen wasn't going to return, in September, 2009, Stone confirmed that Sheen would have a "brief appearance" as Bud Fox and that Sheen's appearance in the film is currently being "worked into this story [the script]" Stone also confirmed that Martin Sheen "was expected to return."

In May, 2007 it was widely speculated that Stone would not be returning as director, as, on announcing the film, Fox had reportedly stated to Variety that: "[Oliver] Stone wasn't expected to return [to direct to the film]." Despite these rumors, in April 2009, Fox confirmed that Stone would be returning as both director and producer, alongside Douglas and Edward R. Pressman, who will produce the film under his production company Edward R. Pressam Film. Edward R. Pressman Film will also serve as the film's only studio production company, unlike the first film where American Entertainment Partners L.P. (produced in association with) and Amercent Films were the film's production companies. The film will be co-produced by Eric Kopeloff and Alessandro Camen and Celia D. Costas will serve as executive producer. In addition to Loeb, the film's screenwriter, the film's story is written by Bryan Burrough, and the film's overall writer is Schiff. The New York Times reported that, as part of research for the film, Douglas and Stone had a dinner meeting with Samuel D. Waksal, the founder of the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems, who spent five years in federal prison for securities fraud. The The New York Times also stated that LaBeouf, along with Stone, discussed the financial collapse with multiple hedge fund managers. Stone also stated, in an interview with The New York Times that, earlier in the summer he had taken LaBeouf to a cocktail party, organized by Nouriel Roubini, a New York University economics professor and chairman of a consulting firm who earned acclaim for predicting the financial crisis early. At the party Stone and LaBeouf discussed the financial collapse with Roubini and also discussed hedge fund managers, who are clients of Roubini’s firm. Roubini stated that: “In this financial crisis it was the traditional banks and the investment banks that had a larger role in doing stupid and silly things than the hedge funds.” Stone also stated that he had conversations with Jim Chanos, a "prominent" hedge fund manager who had urged him to focus less on hedge funds and more on the banking system, Chanos stated: “There was a much more important story, a bigger story, in what happened with the system."

Titling
Despite originally having been only tentatively titled "Money Never Sleeps" at the time of the film's announcement, by June 2009 the film was still using Money Never Sleeps as its working title and it was reported that it would indeed be the film's official title,. However, shortly after the film's title was changed to 'Wall Street 2', which it was often referred to as. Douglas said of the film's re-titling that "They had another title, 'Money Never Sleeps', and then [Director] Oliver Stone, who directed the first one, read the new script and said 'I want to do it and we're going to call it 'Wall Street 2'," and, "[Oliver] Stone changed the [film's] name to "Wall Street 2" after agreeing to join the production as director." On August 12, 2009, the film was again re-titled as "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps". Canmag.com remarked of the film's current titling that: "let me start by saying that I do not like the title for the Wall Street sequel [...] Wall Street 2 would have sufficed, but I guess making the title longer has become mainstream of late [...] Sounding cheesy, Fox has gone with Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps." JoBlo.com criticized the film's long titling, remarking that they should "drop" Wall Street 2 from the title. ScreenRant.com also criticized the film's titling, saying that Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps is "horribly titled," and Movies.About.com remarked that they "hoped" that the film's current title was only the film's working title. Matt Goldberg, a writer for Collider.com, who criticized the film for its timing with the economy, remarked that the film's sub-title should be changed from Money Never Sleeps to Trying to Stay Relevant.

Writing
In October 2008, 20th Century Fox confirmed that writer Allan Loeb, whose notable work as a writer includes Things We Lost in the Fire, 21, and the creation of the television show New Amsterdam, had been "tapped" to write the script in what was described as a "page one rewrite",  meaning that Loeb would be "starting from scratch". Eric R. Snider, a writer from Cinematical.com, praised 20th Century Fox, for choosing Loeb, not because of his past work but because he's a licenced stock broker and Snider felt that would be a "good fit" due to the film's financial background, stating: "[Allan Loeb] who also happens to be a licensed stock broker [...] He knows his greed and his card-counting and his shady gambling practices -- he sounds like a good fit [for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps]." Stanley Weiser had worked on a treatment for the sequel with the second part set in China. The film was set in the present with Gekko being released from jail. The studio felt that the material was dated and put the project in turnaround. Stone had a falling out with the producer Pressman and began work on W. with Weiser. Weiser's treatment was discarded and the new film began taking shape from an original script by Stephen Schiff of The New Yorker, whose notable work includes Lolita.



In December 2008, while still in the process of drafting, Loeb said that he had been riveted by "The Madoff headlines", and Loeb showed interest in referencing Madoff in the film, noting: "the thing that is so crazy about this story is that Ponzi schemes seem to be the simplest low-class scam," and "but this was carried out in the highest-echelon of high-finance [...] You couldn't even get in to see this guy unless you had $2 million to invest." However in September, 2009, Stone clarified that Madoff will not be mentioned in the film, stating: "No, Madoff is not a player in this movie. Madoff I consider to a be a sociopath; he was a crook running a Ponzi scheme [...] This is legal. What's going on now is legal [...] It's legal robbery." In early June, 2009, Loeb reportedly handed in his second draft of the film to Fox. Loeb's first draft was "so great" that Stone had said that he didn't feel the need to touch it, although Stone does have the option to be able to make adjustment's to the second draft, if he feel's the need to. It was reported that Loeb's latest draft for the film had been "strong enough" to convince Stone to return. In July, 2009, it was reported that Loeb was finalizing the screenplay. In September, 2009, Stone stated that the script went through "some" re-writes, stating: "We sort of started over with the story of a young man who is at the center of it, and how he needs Gordon Gekko's help to navigate those waters." It was also reported that Aaron Sorkin had turned down the opportunity to work on the film's script.

According to Pressman, the new film will be based in New York, London, the United Arab Emirates and an Asian country. One of the character consultants to the new movie will be billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz. Pressman said that Tchenguiz had "modeled [Gekko]" but did admit that: "Gekko was partly Milken." Pressman said that Gekko will be a more outwardly altruistic figure but, admits, "a leopard doesn't change its spots, despite appearances." Pressman said of the origin of the film's subtitle: "Wall Street was New York- centric. Today the markets are much more global, hence the title of the new film, Money Never Sleeps." Pressman described Gekko's involvement in the film as being "larger than life" and Pressman also said of a product placement for the film that: "We did that last time. There was competition between Forbes and Fortune about which of the magazines we used. We went for Fortune and then Forbes wrote a nasty story about the movie." Stone said that it'll be interesting to see how Gekko will adapt to the world of modern finance: "He's a quintessentially American story, and seeing how he manages to survive in this new shark tank 22 years later is a fascinating and challenging proposition. So much has changed. Not just Gordon Gekko. The world too." It was reported that Loeb had taken advice from a "number of real Wall Street movers and shakers" to ensure "horrifying accuracy" for the film's script. Stone stated that the film will provide more of a "social commentary" and admitted that "he never expected high finance to serve again as a tableau for his storytelling," Stone also stated that the film's plot will also showcase"the unemployment rate at an all time high" and the "our national debt ever climbing."

Script
In April 2009, Los Angeles Times said of the film's plot that: "No one is offering a lot of specifics about the storyline, except to say that the focus remains on the Gekko character, whose exploits will closely reflect much of the greed and chicanery seen in the past year on Wall Street." Gregg Brilliant, a spokesperson for 20th Century Fox said of the film's plot staying under wraps that: "We need to keep the story line under wraps, but it's literally ripped from today's headlines [...] It's going to be very big and very cool." During a majority of the film's pre-production and development process Loeb had been keeping the newly updated script under wraps. Loeb later announced that the film's plot will primarily focus on Gekko, recently released from prison and re-entering a much more "chaotic" financial world than the one he once oversaw from the previous film. Alex Young, co-president of production at 20th Century Fox told The New York Times on the topic of the film's new plot details (because Stone stated that Loeb made noticeable changes to the previous script) that: "we sort of started over with the story of a young man who is at the center of it, and how he needs Gordon Gekko's help to navigate those waters." On August 12, 2009, the entire script was reportedly leaked online. On the same day the script leaked, ZeroHedge.com posted a few pages on their website. The website stated that they'd gotten a-hold-of the script from: "An anonymous Zero Hedge reader '(our favorite kind)' points us to the script for "Money Never Sleeps." The website also stated, in the same post, that: "We haven't even read the whole thing yet, we wanted to get it to you asap," and claimed that "Cody Willard makes an appearance in the first five pages," and remarked: "What does that tell you.?" Mediabistro.com also confirmed the script leakage, stating: "Apparently, the script for Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street sequel, 'Money Never Sleeps, has leaked online" and also confirmed that "Fox Business Network's Cody Willard appears in the first five pages."

Casting
In April, 2009, shortly after Stone was confirmed as director there was still no word of casting or recruitment of crew. In October, 2008, shortly after Fox greenlit the film, Douglas began to show interest in reprising his role in the film, but said that he would only reprise his role if he liked the script. On April 28, 2009 it was confirmed that Douglas had signed on to reprise his role in the film. In April, 2009 Shia LaBeouf was rumored to be in talks for a role in the film. On June 2, 2009, it was confirmed by The Associated Press, that LaBeouf was cast in the film; the characters name was later revealed to be Jacob. On June 18, 2009 it was wildly reported that Carey Mulligan, was in talks to play Winnie Gekko, the daughter of Gekko and Jacob's fiance. In August, when Mulligan appeared on a feature of news.com.au, promoting her up-coming film she briefly mentioned the film saying that: "It would be amazing [to be cast in the film] but so far it's just internet speculation." Despite Mulligan herself denying being cast in the film, on August 13, 2009, Entertainment Weekly, re-reported that Mulligan was cast in the film. Mike Stampson a writer from JoBlo.com remarked of Mulligan's casting that: "In the 'you kinda already knew this' department." Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps will be Mulligan's first major studio role. Blake Lively was reportedly in 'early negotiation's' to star as Winnie in the film.



Also in June, 2009 it was reported that Javier Bardem was attached to the project and was in final talks to play the villain. In July, 2009. however, it was reported that Bardem had turned down the project in favor of shooting a film adaptation of the best-selling book, Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts. It was later stated that Bardem had turned down the role because if he'd chosen to do both film projects it would have had caused filming and scheduling conflicts and that the actor had had "five or six other offers." Shortly after Bardem dropped out of the role, it was reported by Nikki Finke that Academy Award-nominee Josh Brolin, who played George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s previous film, W., was in final talks to replace Bardem for the role. In August, 2009, Mike Stampson, a writer from JoBlo.com reported that Brolin had officially joined the cast and signed on to replace the role that Bardem dropped out of.

On August 10, 2009 Variety, reported that Academy Award-nominated Frank Langella was cast as Lewis Zabel, Jacob's mentor, in the film. Variety also reported of Langella's character in the film that: "the mentor's fate plays a major part in the film's plot." On August 26, 2009, Variety reported that Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon, would be cast as Jacob's mother. After Sarandon was cast, the media took note that the film was set to begin filming in a matter of weeks and that Sarandon was still filming her up-coming movie You Don't Know Jack, and assumed that it could cause filming conflicts. In September, 2009, Stone confirmed that Vanessa Ferlito had been cast as Audrey. Stone confirmed that Jim Cramer had been cast, but Stone didn't say who Cramer will play. Stone stated that he chose to cast Cramer because Cramer was a former hedge fund manager. In September, 2009, it was reported that Natalie Morales, had been cast in an unspecified role. Naomi Watts reportedly turned down a role in the film.

Principal photography
After principal photography was delayed twice in August 2009, the film began principal photography on September 9, 2009, in Midtown, New York City, New York although some reports suggested it had started a day earlier. Mulligan was unable to continue filming on September 10 due to her attendance for the premiere of her film An Education at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, and again on October 14 as she was attending the The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival. Due to the film's filming schedule LaBeouf was unable to attend the New York preimere of his film New York, I Love You on October 14. Stone stated the constantly changing weather was a "big" problem for filming, stating: "We're on schedule and on budget, but weather's been our biggest issue."

On September 10, Stone filmed scenes with LaBeouf and Langella involving King Charles spaniels in Central Park. Also on September 10, Douglas filmed scenes in New York. On September 11, they began filming in the morning around 76th and 5th and on 82nd Street. On Sunday, September 13, LaBeouf and Mulligan filmed scenes on a motorcycle on West 15th Street, and continued filming scenes involving the motorcycle on September 16, in Chelsea, Manhattan and finished on October 1. On September 18, Douglas filmed scenes of Gekko being released from prison outside Sing Sing maximum-security prison in Ossining, Westchester County. On September 19, LaBeouf and Ferlito filmed scenes in Jersey City. On October 7, LaBeouf and Douglas filmed scenes at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan. LaBeouf filmed scenes in the Meatpacking District and the following day filmed scenes near the Lincoln Center. On October 10 and 11 2009, the movie was filmed at Fordham University for the classroom scenes. On October 18, scenes involving LaBeouf, Mulligan and Brolin were filmed in New York. On October 23, LaBeouf and Douglas filmed scenes in various location's of New York. On November 6, LaBeouf filmed scenes on the Upper West Side of New York. In order to film a dining scene between LaBeouf and Douglas, Shun Lee West closed for 24 hours so the two could film scenes at the restaurant for the entire day on November 10.

Filming delays
LaBeouf confirmed to Extra that the film, was going to begin filming in August, 2009, saying that: "we’re deep in prep now [...] we start in August […] it’s definitely going to be different." The film was reportedly originally set to have had begun principal photography on August 10, 2009. Though in late July, 2009, around the same time that Javier Bardem had dropped out of the film it was reported that the film's filming dates had been pushed back from their original filming and start dates. The film was then reportedly, re-scheduled to have begun production "in late August", though at the time no official filming dates had been released or reported on when the film was expected to have had began filming at that time of the month. In July JoBlo.com said that "the movie begins filiming in just a couple weeks." The film was also reportedly said: "to start filming very soon for its 2010 release." On August 10, 2009, FilmOFilia.com reported that the film "is supposed to start shooting this week [August 10–17] and is scheduled to be released in early 2010." On August 10, 2009, Total Film.com stated that the film "starts shooting later this month."

On August 14, 2009, it was first reported by, Movie Web.com, that the film's principal photography filming dates had been pushed back, for the second time, both occurring in August, 2009, and the website also reported that the film had been re-scheduled to start filming in September, 2009, and that filming would begin in New York. On August 15, 2009 Get The Big Picture.com reported, on the topic of the film's filming that: "filming is said to begin fairly soon, and just as we hinted it should earlier this summer."

Locations
Stone stated that a majority of the film's filming will take place at the Federal Reserve Building, and that The New York Stock Exchange, whose trading floor was a frequent image and major location in the first film, will be less prominent. Stone stated that he choose to not to prominently use the Stock Exchange, because internet in stock trading made the system available and comprehensible to everyone and also because it "was foreign territory." Stone said, in the same interview that, he chose to use the Federal Reserve building because, "In the original ’87 movie there was no Federal Reserve, we didn’t get into that,” and “But now the world has changed radically. This is part of the bulwark of the system.” Stone also said that an another reason for using the Federal Reserve as a main location was because that's where several important financial meetings took place last in September, 2008, during the beginning of the Stock Market Crash happened, and due to the film's factual coverage of the Market Crash it will be an important location and setting.

The film's producer, Pressman, stated in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, in August, 2007, on the topic of the film's location, that Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps main location's in the film will take place in four major cities within four different countries, stating that the film will be based in New York City, New York, London, England and Dubai, United Arab Emirates and in "an Asian country." Emma Woodcock, is part of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps miscellaneous crew; serving as the film's location scout for London, England. Woodcock's job as location scout, is that she will generally have to look for filming locations before production begins for the film, and will have to have a database of locations in case they are needed. Location scouts often have to negotiate legal access to filming locations. Woodcock's notable work as a location scout include, Bright Star, Fallen Angel, and the television movie Mysterious Creatures.