Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening are coming to Georgia this month to start production on a Paramount+ film, “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” about a couple who funneled lottery winnings to help revive a small town.
The film is based on a true story written in 2018 by Jason Fagone for Huffington Post’s Highline.
The production is scheduled to run from July 26 to September 10.
Jerry Selbee (Cranston), a mildly dyslexic retired cereal company materials analyst who loves puzzles and patterns, figures out a loophole in the Michigan Cash WinFall state lottery game. They made money off of it, helping family and friends in a betting pool until Michigan closed that game. He and his wife Marge (Bening) made off even bigger when Massachusetts created a similar game with a similar loophole.
Over nine years, they grossed nearly $27 million, netting $7.75 million in profit before taxes.
According to the original story, their winnings would “spark an investigation by a Boston Globe Spotlight reporter, unleash a statewide political scandal and expose more than a few hypocrisies at the heart of America’s favorite form of legalized gambling.”
The movie is one of the first original features for Paramount+, which is competing with much bigger players like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max.
The scriptwriter, Brad Copeland, also wrote “Wild Hogs,” the hit comedy starring Tim Allen.
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