As the debate rages about whether or not “The Wolf Of Wall Street” glorifies the misdeeds of sleazy Wall Street scumbags without offering consideration for the victims in their path, folks can perhaps rest assured that the real life Jordan Belfort won’t make a dime off the movie or the book he wrote that it’s based on (though he’s already walked away with Leonardo DiCaprio filming a weird endorsement for the man himself).
The former financial fraudster hit Facebook (via JoBlo) earlier this week to address discussions about what he’s getting out of all this, and the answer? Nothing. Here’s what he had to say:
As you can imagine, I am very busy right now, but I owe this post to all my loyal friends and fans who have supported me since the beginning: For the record, I am not turning over 50% of the profits of the books and the movie, which was what the government had wanted me to do. Instead, I insisted on turning over 100% of the profits of both books and the movie, which is to say, I am not making a single dime on any of this. This should amount to countless millions of dollars and hopefully be more than enough to pay back anyone who is still out there. I thought this was already public information, as I have already said it publicly numerous times, but apparently there is so much NOISE right now that it has gotten lost in the shuffle. So, again, for the record: I am not making any royalties off the film or the books, and I am totally content with that. My income comes from new life, which is far better than my old one. (Although I will admit the Quaaludes were kind of fun, at least in the beginning. Thankfully, they’re illegal! and impossible to find!)
And while the film’s place in history and Martin Scorsese‘s filmography is still being established, it does have one dubious honor to hang on to for the moment. The folks over at Slashfilm have noted that “The Wolf Of Wall Street” contains 506 f-bombs over the course of 180 minutes, making it the most “fuck” filled movie ever. It breaks the record previously held by Spike Lee‘s “Summer Of Sam” which dropped it 435 times, so there’s a handy piece of trivia for you to impress someone with.
Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese recently stopped by to chat with THR, and when asked about what continues to attract him to profiling criminals in his work, the director (as always) gave a rather fascinating response that may explain why Belfort’s onscreen actions, as depraved as they are, seem so attractive.
“In many cases — not all — the pursuit of reinventing yourself in America is just something that ‘a confidence man’ [like Wolf’s Jordan Belfort] embraces. A confidence man takes your trust, takes your confidence and betrays you. And this is on all levels, whether it’s low-level street crime, a white-collar crime and even a crime in religious organizations. This is something that’s not going to go away if you don’t talk about it,” Scorsese said. “Your children are not going to stay clear of it. And God forbid that your kids do! Look, it’s out there. It’s about human nature. Certain social structures facilitate it and some don’t. Now looking at this unrestrained let me make this picture, you know? It’s different from, I don’t know, ‘Boardwalk Empire;’ when you’re dealing with the people in ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ you know what you’re into, you know? That’s that situation. But I think of the younger people. I think of the fact that yes, it’s funny — but the devil comes with a smile, you know? That’s the idea, you know? The confidence man’s got the charm! [laughs]”
“The Wolf Of Wall Street” is in theaters now, but the promo continues, with a new featurette from MovieTickets, a TV spot below and more new photos. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Belfort was and continues to be a hustler. Now he\’s making himself rich again by teaching others to follow in his footsteps to hell.
Brian, you comment makes no sense due to your lack of ability to communicate in English. Perhaps you mean that it\’s moral and ethical to verbally assault an old person who has lost much of his/her mental capabilities to supply you with drugs, whores and their money. What he did and continues to do is like you walking up to a small child, punching him in the head, stomping on him and then saying it was the kid\’s fault for being an easy mark in front of you.
Because you can do it does not make it right. The movie portrays a scumbag with no sense of morality, no remorse, no concern for others. Glad I waited to watch it for free on Netlix.
It is hard to believe that in a movie with a running time of 180 minutes, there is no mention of the absolute devastation that this grubby little con man caused his victims. Jordan Belfort hurt thousands of people and ruined lives. He has still to pay back the life savings of the people he stole from. Giving him such a high profile platform to once again line his own pockets, and playing his greed off as black comedy makes me feel physically sick.
How many poor thieves who stole a candy bar went to jail for more than 22 months? Wall street is full of white collar criminals, and Belfort is only one of many. Our government decides to punish poor thieves and glorifies those Wall Street Wolfs. Hey, this is America and the sharks will always rule.
LOL…not making money…Even with 100% going to his "victims" he is still profiting. He was ordered to pay restitution and this is one of his ways…smh….If not for this his would still owe these people lots of money.
However, he will make more money at his seminars due to exposure from this film… once again, douchebags lined up out the door! Indeed, these are his fans.
(I'm not saying I don't think this film schould've been made, but yes, extra cash for this bloated cow is inevitable even if he "doesn't make anything from the film" he will of course make plenty off this film and still be behind in his repayments to the government.
Six comments hypocrites. The best film, the most honest movie in decades. The truth hurt. Big Martin and big DiCaprio. And the next years, ready hypocrites, open your eyes, with the Maddoff project. Because the shit of Wall Street and others cities of money, are back, there is others wolves, lions, and foxies. Do you imagine that the Wolf was a Woman? Poor Scorsese. I love you Martin. THX for this masterpiece of courage.
From the internet – "In October 2013, federal prosecutors filed a complaint that Belfort, who had income of $1,767,209 from the publication of his two books and the sale of the movie rights, plus an additional $24,000 from motivational speaking since 2007, paid restitution of only $243,000 over the past four years. The government is currently not holding Belfort in default of his payments in order to keep negotiations open, but it is unclear when the full amount of the mandated restitution will be repaid." Btw the full amount of restitution he was ordered to pay by the court is 110 million dollars. Yeah Jordan I doubt your profit from this film will be "countless millions" as you say, and be more than enough to pay off your debt.
I don't think Belfort making money off this is really the issue. He got caught; many, if not most, do not get caught. So we're supposed to be happy in the knowledge that Belfort has had to pull back a little on the prostitutes and the coke parties?
What I get from this article is that DeCaprio is a hypocrit who criticizes him out of one side of his mouth while shilling for him out of the other.
"My loyal friends and fans"?!?!?! Does he by any chance mean the people who would like to see him roasting on a spit?
I believe "I'm not making a dime off this myself!" is exactly the same thing he told all his investors. Once a con man, always a con man. None of us are auditing him, are we.
Spin, spin, spin. I'm beginning to get nauseous from all the damage control. Every time somebody makes a legit critique of this movie – and there are many to be had – here comes a rehearsed chorus of "You are obviously a moron who doesn't know anything about film!" Please. I know Leo is all about managing his image, but there is a point of diminishing returns.
Why is so much time and effort being made to convince people to see this film? This goes way beyond the normal press being given a film. This reminds me of the over promotion for films people know are bad and want to look past it. This just seems over the top to me. But if the film gets publicity, then his book gets publicity and if he gets a reality show based on the success of the film, yes he is making money. Indirectly maybe, but he does benefit none the less.
These people complaining of the movie's glorification of one person's abuse of power have nobody to blame except for themselves.Nobody put a gun to there head forcing them to get involved in this figure Jordan B or anybody else.May be they should have been a better judge of character.
It is reassuring, but the guy's still got asshole issues. ' I owe this post to all my loyal friends and fans who have supported me since the beginning.' Fans? From the beginning? Just what position does he feel he's responding from?