Greed is good...but lunch is for wimps.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Oliver Stone's much-anticipated sequel to his seminal story of 1980s excess - was originally scheduled to open in cinemas this Spring.
However, rather than opt for a quick bite, Fox has put the release back to September, with a world premiere at Cannes serving as an appetite whetter.
And what a feast it promises to be.
With Michael Douglas reprising his Oscar-winning turn as crooked trader Gordon Gekko, a new generation of acting talent alongside him, and a hugely topical story of bad banks and financial turmoil, there's more than enough for us to get our teeth into.
"What's worth doing is worth doing for money"
Fresh off winning Best Picture and Best Director for his Vietnam War classic Platoon, Oliver Stone was eager to get back into movie-making rather than risk getting stale.
For inspiration, he turned to his father, whose career had been in stockbroking. Stone recalls, as a child, being "scared by Wall Street. I remember these tall men, big buildings, money."
But he also respected his father's integrity, and wanted to put that world on the screen. He told Fortune, "He took me to the movies, and he would bemoan the lack of a good business movie. Businessmen were generally lampooned."
Stone's story collided old-school values with the corruption he saw in the 80s corporate raiders. He tells how tyro trader Bud Fox signs a deal with a financial devil in the form of flashy Gordon Gekko, whose wealth is reflected in his loud shirts, braces and then-novel mobile phones.
Michael Douglas and Platoon star Charlie Sheen were cast as Gekko and Fox, with the latter's on-screen father played by Charlie real-life dad Martin Sheen.
Extensive research drew authenticity. Sheen and John C. McGinley spent a month shadowing traders to get themselves into the caffeinated rhythms of traders' high-pressure lifestyles, while some roles went to genuine Stock Exchange workers.
For Gekko, Douglas and Stone drew on several real-life white collar criminals, notably Ivan Boesky, who made millions insider trading on corporate takeovers he knew were sure things. It was Boesky who said, "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself".
Stone's intent had been to contrast Gekko's predatory lack of ethics with the virtue of old-timers like Hal Holbrook's Lou Mannheim who, according to Stone, "represents my father, who always said Wall Street can do a lot of good. It is not simply a function of making money."
However, Douglas' captivating charm drew most plaudits, making a shitload of money for the movie, bagging an Oscar, and directly inspiring a new generation of financial whizzkids apparently incapable of seeing that he was supposed to be a villain.
It's a time capsule of a bygone era...right?
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