Pine makes money

While Chris Pine takes a breather from rebooting the STAR TREK franchise, he’s getting his printing press rolling and cranking out some spare cash.

Pine is considering THE ART OF MAKING MONEY, a fact-based thriller from director D.J. Caruso (EAGLE EYE, DISTURBIA). The story is based on the life of counterfieter Art Williams, whose CATCH ME IF YOU CAN style of criminal activity was documented in Jason Kersten’s book “The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfieter.”

The book synopsis: “Born in 1972 and abandoned by his father to poverty, the gritty gangs of Chicago and a mentally ill mother, Williams slid into an underworld of theft and violence before a bohemian money crafter introduced him to counterfeiting. With swagger, ingenuity and a devoted wife, Williams produced millions of dollars’ worth of uncannily accurate bills for 14 years, till the Secret Service caught up with him. As Kersten narrates this story, he ably weaves the minuscule details of currency security with colorful portraits of underworld characters like a Chinese mob leader known as the Horse and tales of giddy shopping sprees fueled by sex, fake bills, even mischievous masquerades as priests.”

Pine is currently trying to halt a runaway train in Tony Scott’s action flick UNSTOPPABLE.