April 9, 2014 - 11:25 AMT
Sony Pictures to nab “Flash Boys” thriller from “Moneyball” writer

Sony Pictures is nearing a deal for the rights to Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, the newest book from Moneyball writer Michael Lewis. Scott Rudin will produce with Eli Bush, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The book, which hit stores on March 31, is a financial thriller about a group of Wall Street traders who band together to reform the market and fight the long-secret phenomenon known as high-frequency trading (HFT).

Lewis, a non-fiction writer with more than a dozen books under his belt, has had two of his books made into successful films. He wrote football family-drama The Blind Side, which was adapted into the Sandra Bullock-starring film, and Moneyball, which starred Brad Pitt.

After the success of Moneyball in 2011, Lewis was hired by Warner Bros. to write a script based on Liar's Poker, his classic 1989 account of working as a bond trader at Salomon Brothers in the go-go '80s. Liar's Poker isn't the only Lewis book in development. The Big Short, based on his 2010 book about the 2008 financial crisis, is being developed at Paramount, with Moneyball star Brad Pitt and his Plan B shingle attached to produce.