Variety reports that Anthony Boyle (Tetris, Manhunt) and Julia Garner (Ozark, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) have been cast in Netflix’s upcoming drama series, The Altruists, as Bankman-Fried and Ellison. Executive produced by Graham Moore and Jacqueline Hoyt (who will also showrun the series), The Altruists will recount how Bankman-Fried, FTX’s former CEO, and Ellison, the former head of FTX’s sister cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research, enriched themselves by defrauding FTX’s investors. Netflix has ordered eight episodes for the series, and James Ponsoldt (Shrinking, Running Point) is attached to direct the premiere.
Netflix describes the series as being about “two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye — and then seduced, coaxed, and teased each other into stealing $8 billion,” which sounds accurate, if a bit aggrandizing. Presumably, the show will cover how both Bankman-Fried and Ellison ultimately plead guilty, and wound up being sentenced to 25 and 2 years in prison, respectively. And if The Altruists really wants to be seen as a serious, thoughtful piece of storytelling that isn’t just mythologizing its central felons, it should probably touch on how hard Bankman-Fried is now pushing for Donald Trump to give him a pardon.
(Disclosure: The Altruists is a co-production behind Higher Ground Productions and New York Magazine/Vox Media Studios.)
