Schiff’s script, which he delivered on July 22, contained some prescient details, considering he wrote most of it in 2007. It blamed the credit crunch and subprime mortgages for, in Gekko’s words, making “the gods fall off the mountain.” It even had Gekko spitballing about what might happen “if Lehman Brothers hits a rough patch.” Sources close to the project say Stephen Frears, whose 2006 movie The Queen earned an Academy Award nomination for best picture, expressed interest in directing. (Schiff declined to comment for this story.)

Yet as the financial picture worsened in late summer and early fall, Schiff’s script “suddenly felt out of touch,” says Alex Young, co-president of production for 20th Century Fox. “Stephen tried to shoehorn some things in there. But it was sort of like an ‘Oh, by the way.’ That’s no knock on Stephen: Wall Street is one of the seminal movies of all time. You don’t just casually wade back into those waters. You have to have a script that you love.”

Meanwhile, Stone remained noncommittal. He was not involved in developing the Money Never Sleeps script and says he has “no special interest” in directing a Wall Street sequel. Schiff, he says, is a good writer, but “the script is far too clever for its own good and probably impossible to understand for most people.”

Fox was determined to move on and approached Sorkin for a rewrite. He was unavailable. The decision was “brutal because of Michael,” Sorkin says, referring to the debt he feels he owes Michael Douglas. (The actor starred in The American President, a film Sorkin wrote that helped launch his screenwriting career.)

Fox also couldn’t come to terms with Peter Morgan, author of both the play and film Frost/Nixon, about television personality David Frost’s famous series of interviews with President Richard Nixon. Finally, Loeb, who co-wrote last year’s 21, a movie based on the true story of six M.I.T. students who trained to be card counters, was offered the job. (Young first confirmed then denied that writers other than Schiff and Loeb were approached.)

Can Loeb explain collateralized debt and credit default swaps in a way that will make audiences cheer? That remains to be seen. But if he delivers—which means, in large part, completing a script that satisfies Douglas (who according to Fox is “very involved” but not formally attached)—production will start in the spring with the goal of a late-2009 release.

It may be small consolation for Schiff, but his title will endure, as will what Young calls the script’s “global aspect.” Weiser doesn’t know how Loeb plans to approach the story, but he believes that there is just one way to begin the film: at the $440,000 A.I.G. spa retreat, taken on the heels of the insurance company’s $85 billion bailout by the federal government.