I knew corn syrup was in everything!
Damon to Delve Into Food Conspiracy
Matt Damon will rejoin his “Ocean’s 11″ director Steven Soderbergh
for the screen adaptation of “The Informant,” based on a book by
New York Times investigative reporter Kurt Eichenwald, reports
Variety. Reviews of the book, first published in July 2001,
suggest that the story — a true one — has more plot twists than
a John Grisham novel. In 1992 the FBI stumbled upon Mark
Whitacre, a top executive at the Archer Daniels Midland corporation
(a multi-national food conglomerate), who was willing to act as a
U.S. government witness to a vast price-fixing conspiracy that
reached into Russia and Japan. Whitacre wore a wire for more
than two years, providing the bureau with hundreds of hours of
tapes of ADM executives conspiring to, among other things, replace
sugar with high fructose syrup in the world’s food products.
(Supplying Coca-Cola alone would provide a fortune, book reviewers
noted.) After four years, ADM pleaded guilty to conspiracy
charges and paid a $100 million fine. It’s still unclear when
Damon, 32, and Soderbergh will begin shooting the film. Earlier
this month, Soderbergh and George Clooney committed to “Ocean’s
12,” a sequel to 2001’s “Ocean’s 11″ that is targeted for a March
2004 start date and will also feature Damon. The new film
reportedly will be based on a script by George Nolfi (”Timeline”)
titled “Honor Among Thieves,” which will then be adapted to the
“Ocean’s” cast of characters. Although new faces are expected to
be introduced, filmmakers also hope to bring back the entire
original cast of the 2001 movie.