Wall Street's Celluloid Heroes: Brolin's "Evil" Addiction, LaBeouf's $650K Payday

Posted Sep 23, 2010 02:29pm EDT by Stacy Curtin in Investing, Media, Banking

Related: ^DJI, XLF, FAZ, GS, JPM, NWS, SCHW

Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, opens nationwide on Friday. It’s been more than 20 years since the original left an indelible mark on high finance and Hollywood, becoming an instant classic.

The sequel stars Josh Brolin, Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon and Mr. Gordon Gekko himself, Michael Douglas.

LaBeouf knew nothing about finance before agreeing to do the film. But, once he signed on to do the movie, Stone told him he had "better get cracking."

He did his homework! Get a load of this!

"First thing I did was I took $20,000 out. Went down to the Schwab office in Encino [Calif.]. Walked in, said 'Hey, I know nothing. I am making this movie.' [They] set me up with all the Series 7 stuff," says LaBeouf, referencing the SEC exam that individuals working in the securities industry must pass.

LaBeouf tells Tech Ticker he was trading every day and everywhere, even on his cell phone.

"Went to George Soros' house for dinners. Hung out with Donald Trump and talked about real estate," he says. "I'd hang out with Jim Chanos. Nouriel Roubini was like my closest friend through all of this."

If you think that is impressive, LaBeouf has substantially grown his $20,000 original investment.

"I started at 20, I am at $650 today," he says.

No, not $650. He means $650,000!

Unlike LaBeouf, Brolin had a reputation as a savvy trader.

Before his acting career took off, a need for money spurred him to learn about the markets. "I took profit from a ranch I had sold and I started trading personally," says Brolin, who has called his addiction to trading "an evil little friend."

Oliver Stone -- a New York native -- became familiar with Wall Street at a very early age. His father was a stockbroker.

"Wall street has a purpose. My father used to say it is the engine of capitalism," Stone says.

After directing the Academy Award-winning "Platoon" in 1986, Stone was looking to stay closer to home for his next project. "In making ‘Wall Street,' I really wanted to see the war at home, so to speak, the war in the financial jungle of New York," he says.

Stone shot the sequel on location on Wall Street using real trading floors, real traders and the real media these investors watch minute by minute, day by day.

Rolling out The Red Carpet

The scene at the red carpet premiere in New York City earlier this week was frenetic.

CEOs and pundits from many of the investment houses used in the film were in attendance for the premiere, as were many business news TV personalities who have cameos in the new flick.

Also making an appearance -- to the surprise of many -- was quintessential value investor Warren Buffett. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway doesn't give many interviews and he did not make any comments on his way into the theatre. However, after seeing the film he is said to have given it "two thumbs up."

As you'll see in the accompanying clip, Tech Ticker's very own Aaron Task was on the scene to ask the burning question on everyone's mind: How has Wall Street changed in the last 22 years since Douglas' Gekko delivered his legendary "greed is good" speech?

Oliver Stone: "I think banks became what Gekko was in the 1980s. Greed became greed plus envy [which] gave us more and more and more. As Gekko in the film says, ‘greed is now legal' in the sense that the banks were doing what he was doing back then and he went to jail."

CNBC's Melissa Francis: "I still believe greed is good. It is what makes capitalism work."

Shia LaBeouf: "No. They are bundling life insurance policies grim reaper style. It is even more morbid than it was. Banks are still doing the same thing. Goldman can still get free money from the government and call itself a commercial bank and it is not. Things are rough and nothing has changed really."

Susan Sarandon: "I always knew was something wrong with the idea of hedge funds. There is nothing that [they] are actually buying. That just never seemed right to me."

The one person we did speak to who thinks Wall Street HAS changed is CNBC's Jim Cramer: "The government is very sophisticated now...I have to tell ya, I think it is a much more honest game now."

What do you think?