“Dumb Money” will Hit Japanese Screens in February 2024

“Dumb Money,” a film based on the Game Stop stock riots that occurred in the U.S. in 2021 will be released in Japan on February 2, 2024 (Friday). In conjunction with the film’s release, scene photos have been released.

The Gamestop stock panic was an incident in which helpless individual investors gathered on an Internet message board to buy shares of Gamestop, a company that was rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy, thereby driving up the stock price and inflicting heavy losses on the hedge funds that were shorting the company. The case became a social phenomenon that rocked the United States as an uprising in which ordinary citizens banded together on social networking sites to take a shot at millionaires.

The film focuses on Keith Gill, an ordinary company employee who called himself “Rolling Kitty” on social networking sites and invested all his money in Gamestop stock. The film is based on the non-fiction book “The Antisocial Network” by Ben Mezrich, the author of the film “The Social Network,” which chronicles the turmoil.

Director Craig Gillespie experienced the series of upheavals firsthand, as his son, who lived with him, invested in Gamestop stock early on. At the time, the U.S. was experiencing serious problems of isolation and social unrest inflicted by the new coronavirus. Then Rolling Kitty appeared. An honest, humble, ordinary man who just loves his Gamestop stock. This unlikely hero made the public enraptured, emotionally exhausted, and sometimes euphoric. Through my son, I experienced the thrill, excitement, and fear of the Gamestop story,” he commented, revealing that he was inspired to create the film because he felt that the Gamestop stock debacle was more than just a stock trading story.

Paul Dano, who played Keith Gill, aka Rolling Kitty, added, “When I first read the script, I thought it was an amazing story. He has a unique spirit and his video was the most decisive factor. The moment I first saw it, I thought, ‘I want to spend time with this guy,’ and I continued to identify with the character.” The director also said, “Everything starts with the characters,” and the film’s numerous unique characters are also a highlight.

The nine photos released include a scene in which Keith Gill, wearing a red hachimaki and a cat T-shirt, delivers a video as “Rolling Kitty. Paul Dano thoroughly studied the actual “Rolling Kitty” videos, and each scene shows the results of the actors’ efforts to portray their real-life counterparts.