Kate Winslet to Star in Burns' "Fake!"

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Often when Kate Winslet decides to star in a movie, that's a sign that movie is going to be exceptional. Currently getting award-worthy praise for her performance in this year's Ammonite (Alongside Saoirse Ronan), Winslet will next reunite with the writer of the 2011 Steven Soderbergh-directed film Contagion, which got a huge boost in popularity this year given the way it "predicted" the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2011, that film's writer, Scott Z. Burns, has taken the helm himself. His film last year, The Report, was a critically acclaimed feature though Burns has a history of intriguing, reality-based cinema whether it be 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum, 2009's true story-inspired The Informant!, or Contagion. It's that gritty realism that drew audiences in with his writing and his directing which makes this next true story feature so interesting.

Titled Fake!, the film will deal with the OneCoin ponzi scheme, a cryptocurrency con that was described by The London Times as “one of the biggest scams in history.” OneCoin was promoted as a cryptocurrency by Bulgaria-based offshore companies founded by Ruja Ignatova in concert with Sebastian Greenwood. In 2017, Ignatova disappeared in 2017, managing to avoid being arrested under a secret US warrant. She remains at large even now with most of OneCoin’s leaders having disappeared or also been arrested. Greenwood was also arrested in 2018 along with Ignatov's brother Konstantin, who took over the company when she disappeared, in March 2019 where he pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and fraud.

Fake! will primarily be based on the book of the same name that was written by Jen McAdams and Douglas Thompson. McAdams herself was involved in the OneCoin Ponzi scheme. It's unknown whether Winslet will be playing Ruja Ignatova or McAdams. Burns will write, direct, and co-produce along Winslet and Jennifer Todd (Who was involved in Burns' The Report). Stay tuned!