"I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things"
Wall Street was defined by the relationship between Gekko and Charlie Sheen's naive trader Bud Fox. For the sequel, Stone wanted the same dynamic and found his young leading man battling transforming robots.
Shia LaBeouf was cast as Gekko's new protege - and boyfriend of Gekko's daughter - Jacob Moore, who is determined to get his revenge on Bretton James, the hedge fund manager he holds responsible for the death of his mentor, Lewis Zabel.
The young star knew that this is his chance to convince sceptics he's more than just a buster of blocks, but admitted being daunted by at playing in "wordy, heady" movie about finance.
“I don’t know what a credit derivative is,” he commented. “I have no idea. I don’t know what a CPO is. IPB. LVC. You gotta know ticker names.” But such was his dedication that he decided to find out exactly what those names meant.
Like Sheen in the 1980s, LaBeouf hung out with real-life stockbrokers. He recently told GQ: “I thought my life was pretty wild. I’m Richie Rich. I land in New York, secretly thinking I’m like the coolest guy in the world.
"But then I met these guys, and it’s humbling. It’s the most sex-drugs-and-rock-’n’-roll atmosphere that exists on the planet. I was hanging out with some wild human beings."
However, he was quick to learn, using his contacts to dabble in investments. Before he knew it, he'd turned an initial $20,000 investment into $489,000... but as he explained to Jimmy Kimmel, it was "with the help of the entire team!"
Oliver Stone was impressed. "I don't play [the market] like these guys. Or like Shia. As a result of this movie, Shia's really learned. He's into it. He trades daily."
As for Bud Fox himself, might Charlie Sheen be making an apperance? According to screenwriter Allan Loeb, that's a bingo.
"It's a good exchange between Gordon Gekko and Bud Fox. Without revealing too much, I'd like to say that the cameo sends the message that Bud Fox kind of figured out after prison... what Gordon Gekko never can figure out.
"Bud Fox in this cameo, you get the idea that he gets it, he gets that life is not all about dollars and cents."
Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Donald Trump, Charlie Sheen. That's some cast Stone is putting together. Who else is in the mix?
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