GameStop meme stocks documentary hits theaters this week

This week is exactly one year ago. GameStop, meme stocks and mad stonks caught the attention of mainstream media. They blasted billion-dollar hedge funds and made wealthy anarchist day traders. It took a year to create the first major documentary about the mania. GameStop: Rise of the Players, from the makers of 2020’s Console Wars.

Blake J. Harris (producer) and Jonah Tulis (producer). Console Wars for Paramount Plus, are back to tell the story of the short squeeze that sent the share price of GameStop — viewed as a stone-age shopping mall business headed for Blockbuster-type extinction — skyrocketing to more than $300. In the summer 2020, it was around $5. Other video games companies were making huge profits from COVID quarantine gaming.

Redditors in the r/wallstreetbets group hacked in to the stock, holding on to shares no matter the price. The stock was short-sold by large investment firms, which effectively bet against the price falling in the future. This caused huge losses for these big companies.

In the aftermath, the trading app Robinhood suspended trades, Congress held hearings (staring Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill, testifying from his Game of Thrones gaming chair), lawsuits were filed, and short sellers were estimated to have lost a combined $6 billion. Even though the GME ticker symbol share price crashed nearly as quickly as the stock market, this did not kill the company and the investment. GameStop ended Thursday closing at $102.67. This would still be a remarkable figure for the fall 2020.

Harris and Tulis are the directors GameStop: Rise of the PlayersIt’s a tale of David-vs. Goliath, told by Reddit traders and investment bankers. It’s a documentary, like Console Wars, so this isn’t a dramatization like The Big Short (to which the incident was often compared). GameStop: Rise of the Players It will air in cinemas from Jan. 28-2022.