Matt Damon is reportedly in early negotiations to star as fugitive billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich in the John Krasinski’s Sunday Night Productions feature, The King of Oil.
Optioned by Universal Pictures for Krasinski’s production banner the story is based on The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, a no-holds-barred biography of Rich written by Daniel Ammann that sheds new light on one of the most controversial international businessmen of all time. Krasinski and Allyson Seeger are producing for Sunday Night Productions, and Vincent Sieber and Uri Singer are also producing. Singer first optioned the book through his Passage Pictures and then partnered with Sunday Night.
There are rumours that Krasinski, after his smash hit outing in A Quiet Place, could also direct but at this point, however right that this is pure speculation. Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse will adapt the screenplay. Executive Vice President Mark Sourian will oversee production for Universal.
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Rich was a child of the Holocaust, he went on to become the wealthiest and most powerful oil and commodities trader of the century until his 1983 indictments on 65 criminal counts including tax evasion. In a highly controversial decision, the then President of the United States, Bill Clinton, pardon Rich on his last day in office.
Rich, who was in Switzerland when he was indicted on those criminal counts, lived his life abroad until he died at age 78 in 2013, he never faced any criminal proceedings.
Damon and Krasinski are no strangers to working together. The pair had previously worked on Manchester by the Sea and co-wrote Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land. Damon will next star in Ford Vs. Ferrari alongside Christian Bale.
