The Movie Trading Places Halted $6 Billion in Trades
Possibly the funniest movie to ever have its finale on the Stock Exchange floor is Trading Places from 1983. In the film, Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy get together to take financial revenge on two dishonest old millionaires who destroyed both of their lives. As the fourth-highest grossing movie of 1983 in the United States and Canada and with over $90.4 million globally, Trading Places was hailed as a success upon its release. Additionally, it received generally positive reviews.
Critics praised the main cast and the film's revival of the screwball comedy subgenre popular in the 1930s and 1940s, but they criticized Trading Places for lacking the genre's traditional moral message and instead encouraging the accumulation of wealth. It was nominated for numerous accolades, including an Academy Award for Bernstein's score, while Elliott and Curtis won two BAFTAs. The core cast of the movie, who each participated in a number of other movies throughout the 1980s, also had their careers begun or rejuvenated by it. In particular, Murphy rose to become one of Hollywood's highest-paid and most in-demand comedians.
The World Trade Center's Comex commodity exchange served as the backdrop for the trading scenes in the film. It had a genuine aura of realism as a result, but it also presented a challenge. This was the actual exchange, but due to the obstruction of a film crew, nothing could be done.
$6 billion in trades were ultimately halted due to the disruption caused by having the actors and production on location during regular business hours. Naturally, in order to finish, the production had to disband and return on a weekend when the market was closed.
