Longtime partners and Boston buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have a new project on their hands. This one will be about the strange-but-true story behind the man who used McDonald's Monopoly game to defraud the fast food chain of millions.
In July, The Daily Beast published a wild piece from writer Jeff Maysh, titled "How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions." The article detailed how Jerome Jacobson, head of security for the company that produced the game pieces for the McDonald’s Monopoly game, secretly sold winning pieces, making himself and others — including mobsters and drug traffickers — quite rich in the process.
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According to The Daily Beast, the Good Will Hunting Oscar winners optioned the rights to the article via their company Pearl Street Films, which is based out of Warner Bros. Damon himself will star in the potential film, though it's unclear if he will portray ex-police officer Jacobson or another character from this incredible tale. (Mr. Monopoly, perhaps? Ronald McDonald?)
Scammers are, apparently, a hot commodity these days — or, at least, stories about them are. It was recently announced that Shonda Rhimes would bring the story of faux-socialite Anna Delvey to the small screen under her new Netflix deal. Former magazine intern Delvey (real name: Anna Sorokin) posed as a German heiress and used her social clout to swindle friends and acquaintances out of major money. (Essentially, she's the friend who "swears" she'll Venmo you for dinner once she figures out her bank issue... except the dinner is actually an entire European vacation.)
Why are schemers so intriguing? Maybe it's because, secretly, we're fascinated by their approach. Who would have thought that defrauding the McDonald's Monopoly game was a get-rich-quick option? The best thing I've ever snagged from the system was a free fish filet. Jacobson, apparently, saw dollar signs in every train track piece, however, and thanks to Affleck and Damon, we'll have a chance to get inside his brain. I'm very curious.