Last month, The Daily Beast published a truly insane account of a crime ring that "won" (stole) more than $24 million from McDonald's annual Monopoly game. The saga unfolded nearly 20 years ago, wrapping up in 2001, when the FBI busted ringleader Jerome Jacobson. Part of why you may not have heard about this story before — the court case began on September 10, 2001.
Nearly two decades later, though, the absolutely wild story is coming to the big screen. According to Deadline, there was a pretty big bidding war for the film, which will be based on The Daily Beast's story, "How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions." Best friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck came out on top with Fox; Matt will star in the film as the lead, while Ben will direct.
The story is extremely convoluted, but the gist is this: Jerome had access to the printing company that made the game pieces, and created a ring of associates who helped him claim almost every prize, 12 years running. An anonymous tip to the FBI started the search for Jerome and his accomplices, which eventually led to several arrests, as well as a TV address and commercial filmed by McDonald's apologizing for the whole ordeal. Honestly, it's a wonder the game is still going.
Besides being outright ludicrous, the story was practically built for the movies: Coincidences include the FBI tracking down two suspects in a town called Fair Play and a commercial filmed with one of the fraudulent winners. No word yet on when the movie will be made or released, but you can read the full true-crime story here.
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