Chess movies come and go; I maintain there will never be a better one than Searching for Bobby Fischer; but the game is experiencing new popularity thanks to The Queen’s Gambit. So it’s no shock that a new project is in the works that will highlight what many consider the greatest chess scandal in history, between world champion Magnus Carlsen and 19-year-old, Hans Niemann. Surprisingly, it will reteam Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, and A24 after their successful series The Curse.
THR reports Stone and Fielder are in talks to reunite for Checkmate, based on a book proposal by The Social Network and Dumb Money writer Ben Mezrich. So what’s this scandal about? Well, in 2022 after Niemann upset the champion Magnus, leading to the latter quitting the tournament, accusations of cheating ran rampant. That was followed by Niemann launching an unsuccessful $100M defamation lawsuit. Ultimately, the whole thing ended with a wimper in arbitration, but not before wild conspiracy theories erupted involving the use of anal beads to gain an edge at chess. Yes, really.
At this stage, this isn’t something that Stone and Fielder are expected to star in. Fielder will direct, while Stone will produce the film with her partner and husband Dave McCrary. A24 is also aboard, having swooped in at the last second to take it away from Amazon and Netflix which also had deals on the table. I think we’re past the point of looking at A24 as the little arthouse distributor. They’re playing with the big boys in landing a buzzy title such as this.
