The whole debacle between Martin Shkreli and Wu-Tang Clan is one of music’s strangest stories, and now it’s becoming a movie.
Remember Martin Shkreli, the controversial hedge fund manager who did some dodgy-as-hell work in the pharmaceutical industry and eventually got convicted of fraud?
Well, it seems like his story is getting the big screen treatment. Specifically, the bit where he got wrapped up with Wu-Tang Clan over their one-of-a-kind album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.
According to Collider, director Paul Downs Colaizzo is prepping to direct the Netflix movie titled Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which purports to depict the wild true story of how Shkreli somehow got his hands on the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s album of the same name.
For those who need a refresher on this whole Martin Shkreli/Wu-Tang Clan debacle, it all began in 2014 when the hip-hop group decided to press a single copy of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which is their seventh studio album they had been working on in secret for several years.
The rarity of the album (there’s literally one copy available in the entire world) made it highly valued among music enthusiasts. After being stored in a secure vault in Morocco for some time, Wu-Tang Clan’s prized album was eventually sold in 2015 for $2 million USD to none other than Martin Shkreli.
Apparently Wu-Tang Clan had agreed to the sale before Shkreli made himself public enemy number one by hiking up the price for the antiparasitic drug Daraprim, and upon finding out about the buyer’s identity, the hip-hop group decided to donate a “significant portion” of the proceeds to charity.
Love Hip Hop?
Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
As for where the album is now, well it’s in the hands of the authorities as it was seized (along with millions of dollars in other assets) when Shkreli was convicted of fraud in 2018.
Now there’s no set date for when Once Upon A Time In Shaolin hits Netflix, nor will you hear any music from the album as no one can commercially exploit it until 2103. Oh well, here’s hoping the movie is good at the very least.
From selling hand sanitiser to now making a movie about how they got wrapped up with a convicted fraudster, it’s safe to say that Wu-Tang Clan is having a weird, yet productive, 2020.
Check out RZA talking about Wu-Tang Clan selling ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ To Martin Shkreli:
