If there’s one modern billionaire I’d actually like to see a movie about, it’s Richard Branson – the man’s life philosophy is literally, “Oh, screw it, let’s do it.” If you don’t know his name, I can almost guarantee you’ve come across at least one of his business ventures as the founder of all things Virgin – Virgin Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Cola, and Virgin Records to name a few. There’s almost nothing this man hasn’t done, and now he’s going to have a full length feature film all about his unbelievable life.
David Mirkin, who wrote The Simpsons Movie and directed Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, will write and direct the biopic, but with a strong comedy background, I’m guessing the story won’t get too serious. That seems a little strange for a biopic about a billionaire, but if you look at Branson’s rap sheet, it’s probably exactly the direction the film needs to go in.
Mirkin will use Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way as a guide. The bad boy of big bucks has kept busy starting business venture after business venture using his own unique practices, but that’s only where the story begins. Branson is also a total daredevil. So amongst scenes of the Aussie genius giving the traditional business world a big old middle finger, we’ll get to see his crash-landing in the Algerian desert after attempting to circle the globe in a hot air balloon, his daring two-mile swim to safety during a violent storm along the Mexican coast, and God knows what else he’s gotten himself into.
Mirkin hasn’t done anything that’s blown my mind quite yet, but I think that he’s got the raw materials to make it work.
