Apple Seeks Film Rights to Bankman-Fried Story: Report

Apple is reportedly in talks with The Big Short author Michael Lewis for rights to his forthcoming book on FTX

article-image

Michael Lewis; Source: Shutterstock

share

The past month has been a rollercoaster ride in the crypto world, and one which may be coming to a theater or streaming service near you next.

Apple is in talks with author and financial journalist, Michael Lewis, to acquire his as-yet-unpublished book about FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. 

Lewis is the author behind The Big Short, Moneyball and The Blind Side, and had been embedded with Bankman-Fried for the past six months before the dramatic collapse of FTX.

The tech giant is “near to a deal” with Lewis, according to Deadline, which first reported the news, citing unnamed sources.

Previously a crypto celebrity whose net worth was estimated to be around $36 billion, Bankman-Fried was chummy with regulators in Washington D.C and often made appearances at keynote events.

At the time, it seemed impossible that the self proclaimed philanthropist and altruist would actually be using FTX customer funds in shady deals.

In fact, the inner works of FTX were so bad, that its new CEO John Jay Ray III, who oversaw restructuring efforts at historic corporate failures such as Enron, said in its bankruptcy filing that he had never in his career seen “such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.”

Lewis’s book will attempt to cover the details behind FTX’s closed curtain, and the contagion its downfall wrought on the entire crypto industry.

Even before Apple scored the rights to Lewis’s book, crypto Twitter was awash with armchair casting agents.

Loading Tweet..
Loading Tweet..

Mainstream coverage of Bankman-Fried’s epic failure has been oddly fawning. Let’s hope Lewis and whoever makes a movie on the subject can bring this dramatic story to the world with alacrity.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
  • Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

tg trading bot report graphic.png

Research

Telegram trading bots have found their primary niche in highly speculative token launches and retail-dominated memecoin markets, with many features specifically tailored to token sniping and copy-trading strategies.

article-image

Paradigm’s Charlie Noyes thinks that the attention on stablecoins is well-deserved after Mesh’s $82 million round

article-image

Crypto may benefit from developments during the second quarter after a rough start to the year

article-image

With a friendlier regulatory outlook and the airdrop flow being stemmed, some are looking to how new native tokens can become valuable assets

article-image

The recent action paints an uncertain picture for future monetary policy moves

article-image

Is the finance world becoming “more liquid”? Experts give their takes as TradFi players consider new moves