Warner Bros. has preemptively picked up the film rights to book proposal Chasing Phil: The World’s Greatest Con Man, Two Undercover FBI Agents, and Their Amazing Around The World Adventure for Team Downey, Robert Downey’s production company.
The book, written by David Howard, is based on the true story about the FBI’s first foray into white collar crime-fighting. It centers on two young FBI agents who infiltrate the world of Phillip Kitzer Jr., the charismatic mastermind behind dozens of multi-million dollar schemes, and his network of associates known as “The Fraternity.” It’s described as Wolf of Wall Streets meet Goodfellas.
The character of conman Phillip Kitzer Jr. will be designed as a potential acting vehicle for Downey.
Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey and David Gambino are producing while Rob Hackett is overseeing with Gambino for Team Downey. Courtenay Valenti and Julia Spiro are supervising for Warner Bros.
Downey is currently filming Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. He’s repped by CAA.
ICM Partners repped the book proposal, along with the life rights of the two FBI agents. The publishing rights are with Larry Weissman Literary.
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