New York Times finance and technology reporter Nathaniel Popper is currently on leave to write Power Shift, a book about the January 2021 GameStop stock frenzy and the "the broader power struggles behind it, in which the future of Wall Street and Silicon Valley hang in the balance." Before the book was even written, Paramount Studios expressed interest in adapting it for the big screen, offering Popper a six-figure sum through Pilar Queen, the reporter's representative at powerhouse talent agency UTA. But the deal received a less-than-enthusiastic response from Times management.