For those looking for the next documentary to become fully engrossed in, HBO Max is here with the answer. On March 3, the streaming service will be releasing Gaming Wall Street. Directed by Tobias Deml, the two-part documentary will take viewers on a deep dive into the unbelievable 2021 GameStop stock snafu that led countless at-home-investors to strike it big while simultaneously shedding light on the unfairness that takes place on Wall Street. An already interesting topic, HBO Max tapped Succession star, Kieran Culkin, to help weave the story as the documentary's narrator.
A trailer released ahead of the project's premiere takes audiences behind Wall Street's over-saturated and play-to-lose rigging that the GameStop scandal revealed. Promising to go step-by-step into the GameStop stock flip for those of us who may understand less about investing, the teaser sets the stage as to how, as Culkin puts it, some "nerds on Reddit" were able to make the store's stock launch to sky-high levels. Hoping to stick it to the man — or the hedge funds, in this case — this ragtag group of vigilantes banded together with the shared goal of driving up the company's stock and making a little money. What happened next, no one could have predicted.
Quickly, funds began to accumulate to numbers beyond what anyone could have imagined. The underdogs were winning, but not for long. Scrambling to regain control, the stock trading app, Robinhood, intervened and shut down GameStop trading in an attempt to get those that were flying high to sell what they already had. This unprecedented move would lead to the curtain being ripped away from Wall Street corruption and would eventually end in countless lawsuits against the big wigs involved in the scandal.
Setting out to bring the GameStop wrongdoing to those that may not be well versed in it, Deml commented that he hoped to create a "compelling" piece centered around "a niche online community" and how they rose to be the David to Wall Street's Goliath. He saw the event as a "great need" to bring "education about investing" to those who may not have had the resources. Most of all, the director wanted to move the voices of the underdogs to the forefront and help "empower" their movement to make the stock market for the people and not just the top 1%.
Check out the trailer for Gaming Wall Street below, and be sure to tune into HBO Max on March 3 for the two-part thrill ride behind one group's hopes of toppling the system.