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Jason Bateman slated to direct and star in 'IPO Man'

The actor made his directorial debut with "Bad Words" in 2013.

By Annie Martin
Jason Bateman will direct and star in 'IPO Man.' (UPI/Phil McCarten)
1 of 5 | Jason Bateman will direct and star in 'IPO Man.' (UPI/Phil McCarten) | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Jason Bateman is slated to direct and star in IPO Man.

The 45-year-old actor will portray Mike Merrill, a real-life Portland, Ore., resident who sold stock shares of himself and allowed investors to control his personal life. The film is based on "Meet the Man Who Sold His Fate to Investors at $1 a Share," a Wired magazine article on Merrill by Joshua Davis.

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Merrill put himself on the market in January 2008, and initially sold 929 of 100,000 shares for $1 each. He kept the other 99,071 as a non-voting shareholder, and allowed investors to vote on his life decisions. Shareholders determined how he voted politically, whether he should get a vasectomy and who he dated after he and his then-girlfriend broke up.

Bateman and Jim Garavente will produce the film via their Aggregate production company, with Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster as writers. The actor made his directorial debut with Bad Words in 2013, and recently wrapped The Family Fang.

Bateman is best known for his portrayal of Michael Bluth on Fox series Arrested Development, and most recently starred in This is Where I Leave You. He is scheduled to reprise Nick Hendricks in Horrible Bosses 2 in November.

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