Writer-director J.C. Chandor (‘A Most Violent Year,’ ‘All is Lost,’ ‘Margin Call’) and long-time producers Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb are teaming for an adaptation of the non-fiction book ‘The Liar’s Ball,’ says Variety.
Penned by Vanity Fair contributing Editor Vicky Ward, ‘The Liar’s Ball’ focuses on New York City real estate developer and investor Harry Macklowe and his battles to own and redevelop New York City’s GM Building in the 1990s and into the 2000s.
“Commercial real estate in New York City has long fascinated me, to the point where I once had a broker’s license,” said Chandor in a press release. “The story that Vicky has captured through relentless research and interviews explores the drama and the romantic nature of buildings in a city that has continued to push closer and closer to the sky with each passing year.”
Screenwriter Gideon Yago (‘The Newsroom’) is on board adapt the script, with Zachary Quinto, who produced and starred in Chandor’s ‘Margin Call,’ serving as executive producer.
“When I heard J.C. wanted to turn my book into a movie I couldn’t believe it,” Ward adds. “I always try – as far as journalistic license allows – to condense time and space in my work the way he does, so that in the foreground, you have larger-than-life characters thrashing about in extremes and the reader has no choice but to get inside their headspace and see things from their perspective. …A Most Violent Year was a perfect example of that. So I am just thrilled that they want to take on the clash of brutal, battling egos that comprises the fractious, ruthless, scarcely believable world of New York Real Estate.”