Ain't it funny? Just about everyone nowadays invests in their 401k and yet not many know the existence of one of the greatest traders of all times.
It gained traction only because of the October crash in 1987. I think most of the audiences came with the preconceived notion that Wall Street was rigged and they were thieves robbing Main Street. Well, guess what? That turned out to be true 20 years later.
I found this: The Day the Bubble Burst http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082238/ "A fictionalized account of how the 1929 stock market crash hurt the elite and the struggling, and the forces that may have caused the crash to occur." Blanche Baker ... Jolan Slezsak Franklin Cover ... Herbert Hoover Richard Crenna ... Jesse Livermore Dana Elcar ... Mr. Block Robert Hays ... Gregory Winslow Audra Lindley ... Evangeline Adams Bill Macy ... Mr. Goldberger Rue McClanahan ... Barbara Arvey Caroline McWilliams ... Dorothy Livermore Donna Pescow ... Gloria Block Laurette Spang ... Frances Pierce David Ogden Stiers ... William Crapo Durant Robert Vaughn ... Richard Whitney
I haven't read the book, but from what I've heard, I don't find Jesse Livermore to be a very compelling character at all. Was there anything interesting about him? Quirky? Did he think differently? I wouldn't want to see a movie about Donald Trump either.
Buffet and Bill Gates movies would definitely be major bores. Steve Jobs would be more interesting, but still boring. Jesse Livermore's life would make a great and interesting movie if done well - excitement, suspense, rags-to-riches, riches-to-rags, love, and sex. What more do you need. Watching Buffet drink cokes while reading annual reports would get old fast.
I dont even think he existed, In the movie they talk about "there were no regulations controlling the insider!! WTF, nothing has changed in 100 years dont you think?
The suicide thing might be a little awkward. You could always get Mel Gibson to direct it though, so the reality gets glazed over/heavily distorted. (Jesse puts the gun barrel in his mouth, and in a muffled voice says "Goddamnit, I should've never bought shares of General Motors! They're worthless...all my shares are worthless! I'm going to kill myself now...wait, what's that?" (Jesses peers out of the window of his NYC penthouse and lays his eyes upon a small, 16th century Spanish flotilla that is now floating on the Hudson. Then a coconut falls on his head.) THE END
Actually there was a movie made about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates called "The Pirates of Silicon Valley". It was actually pretty good. It tells the story of how Steve Jobs started Apple and his relationship with Bill Gates. Check it out.