It is no surprise for Michael Lewis to have his books adapted into films, but the author of “The Big Short” said that it is unlikely for his 2014 publication “Flash Boys” to make it to the big screen. He said this is so because Hollywood is reluctant to cast an Asian actor for a lead role in the film.
‘Flash Boys’ adaptation from Hollywood is highly unlikely
Michael Lewis spoke on Saturday at the National Book Festival and said that despite the Hollywood expressing interest in the past, it is now highly unlikely that “Flash Boys” will make it to the filming process because of the lead character is of Asian descent.
The author added that there were exchanges of emails saying that it is just impossible for Hollywood to make a film with an Asian lead. The main problem was Brad Katsuyama, the lead role, he said, which was what he thinks is the main reason why Hollywood hasn’t capitalized on his book.
According to E! News, Hollywood got to the point where they were nervous about replacing an Asian guy with a white guy. Michael Lewis added that it wasn’t like that before and Hollywood would just jump into it and make a film adaptation of the book. He said that Hollywood does not think there are enough popular Asian male actors.
‘Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt’
In 21014, Aaron Sorkin signed up to write the film adaptation of “Flash Boys,” but the progress of its development has been stalled since then.
Upon its release in 2014, “Flash Boys” has been a bestseller and the thought of turning the book into a film circulated among the fans as well as the film enthusiasts. It is no surprise since Lewis has been known for this.
“Flash Boys” is about a group of Wall Street employees, which includes Katsuyama, who discovered and then exposed a high-frequency trading’s controversial methods.
Michael Lewis’ comments about Hollywood being hesitant in making a film based on his book because of the Asian lead character stirred the controversy of whitewashing.
This includes the issues in “Doctor Strange,” “Aloha,” and “Ghost in the Shell” are being scrutinized for whitewashing since they cast white actors to play Asian roles.
Alongside with this, “Deathnote” has also been accused of whitewashing because of casting white actors to play the roles of originally Japanese actors.
Following the whitewashing criticisms, Ed Skrein left “Hellboy’s” upcoming reboot because of the backlash that he was to play a Japanese-American character.
