F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous book, The Great Gatsby, has inspired a new movie about the world economic collapse.
Holy Rollers director Kevin Asch and producer Morris S. Levy have teamed up to give the great Fitzgerald tale a modern makeover - as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire prepare to launch their movie adaptation of the story this Christmas (12).
And the filmmakers are hoping their local links to Great Neck, New York, where Fitzgerald lived, will give the revamp, Affluenza, an authentic edge.
Asch tells WENN, "I was raised in Great Neck and remember reading The Great Gatsby as a teenager. The story had a profound affect on me as there were so many similarities between the fictional world of Gatsby and its loose moral fiber to that of my community.
"It also interested me to learn that F. Scott Fitzgerald, who lived in Great Neck in the 1920s, used his experiences in that town as a backdrop for his renowned novel.
"There isn't a day that goes by where I don't feel inundated by headlines about volatile issues confronting the millennial generation. Our film explores an affluenza-infected society which was unprepared and unwilling to accept the death of the American dream. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this personal, provocative and timely story to the screen."
Newcomer Ben Rosenfield leads the cast alongside Wizards of Waverly Place star Gregg Sulkin, Nicola Peltz, Glee's Grant Gustin and Gossip Girl's Valentina de Angelis.
Filming will begin later this month (Jul12) in New York state.