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It appears that Robert Luketic, the director at the helm of movies such as Legally Blonde, Monster-In-Law, and 21, is set to bring the story of Daniel Tzvetkoff to the big screen. Talks on him acquiring the movie rights from author James Leighton are well under way in Hollywood with contracts looking set to be signed.
The Man who Helped Black Friday to Happen
Daniel Tzvetkoff is still in witness protection in the US after he gave evidence against three of online Poker’s major players in United States v. Scheinberg, the US federal criminal case. The Australian born entrepreneur, and his partner Sam Sciacca, had seen their online billing company Intabill experience financial meltdown. This was largely due to the freezing of over $20 million of money, from processing for online poker operators, by the FBI and the Department of Justice.
In serious financial difficulty, and facing legal action himself, Tzvetkoff agreed to give evidence against the online poker industry when the federal case began. It was largely his insider knowledge that led to the unsealing of the indictment on 15 April 2011, a day which became known as Black Friday.
Telling the Story
Author James Leighton released his book Alligator Blood in 2013. In it he told the story of a normal Australian teenager, surfing the web, who found a new way to process payments. From there Tzvetkoff’s rise to prominence was meteoric; he made millions of dollars from his allegiance with the poker industry. But with Poker’s fall from grace legally, came his; he was heading into an abyss. He made a choice that would shake the foundations of online poker in the US, and change its future forever.
The Journey to the Screen
There is already a script in place to bring Leighton’s entertaining tale to the screen; at which point the intricacies of Black Friday will be unveiled to a wider audience. This summer Luketic is filming The Expendabelles; after which he is hoping to look at casting for the Alligator Blood movie.
There is still a long journey ahead before any cinema release will be imminent with contracts yet to be signed but Leighton is hopeful that it will happen. When it does it won’t just be the world of online billing that is unveiled but also the financial world of online poker before the dramatic events of Black Friday and their aftermath.
