Pete Davidson, Casey Affleck to star in 'Killing Satoshi,' conspiracy thriller film slated for 2026 release: Variety

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Quick Take

  • Hollywood stars Pete Davidson and Casey Affleck will star in “Killing Satoshi,” a conspiracy thriller film from the director of “The Bourne Identity,” slated for release in 2026, according to Variety. 
  • The screenplay was written by Nick Schenk, who has collaborated with Clint Eastwood on several films. 
  • The film will explore Satoshi’s secret identity in a manner reminiscent of “The Social Network,” according to the film’s producer. 

Hollywood stars Pete Davidson, best known for his tenure on Saturday Night Live, and Oscar winner Casey Affleck will star in "Killing Satoshi," a conspiracy thriller film inspired by the secretive Bitcoin creator and slated for a 2026 release, according to a report from Variety. 

The film will be directed by Doug Liman, who directed films such as "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," with a screenplay from frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator Nick Schenk, according to the report. Davidson and Affleck's characters are being kept under wraps, so it's currently unclear whether either star will be playing known Satoshi associates like Hal Finney or Nick Szabo. 

The film "weaves together political intrigue, high-tech espionage and a race against time as forces across the globe — spanning governments, Wall Street and Silicon Valley — wage an all-out battle for control," according to the filmmakers. Liman described the story as a "David and Goliath" battle and a producer, crypto proponent Ryan Kavanaugh, drew comparisons to the critically acclaimed 2010 film "The Social Network," which dramatizes the creation of Facebook. 

"‘Killing Satoshi’ follows unlikely antiheroes taking on the most powerful people on the planet in an epic battle that strikes at the core of what is money and who controls it,” Liman told Variety. 

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous name used by the creator, or creators, of Bitcoin, and Satoshi's true identity has yet to be uncovered. The bitcoin mined by Satoshi, which hasn't been moved since 2010, are worth nearly $120 billion at current prices. A documentary released by HBO last year claimed to uncover Nakamoto's identity as early Bitcoin developer Peter Todd, who denied the allegation. 

The collapse of FTX is also set to receive the Hollywood treatment, with an eight episode series titled "The Altruists" from a production company founded by former United States President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. The series does not currently have a release date. 


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AUTHOR

Zack Abrams is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Before coming to The Block, he was the Head Writer at Coinage, a Web3 media outlet covering the biggest stories in Web3. The story he co-reported on Do Kwon won a 2022 Best in Business Journalism award from SABEW. Other projects included a deep dive into SBF's defense based on exclusive documents and unveiling the identity of the hacker behind one of 2023's biggest crypto hacks — so far. He can be reached via X @zackdabrams or email, [email protected].

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