Dumb Money is the upcoming film about the 2021 GameStop short squeeze phenomenon. Over two years later and Craig Gillespie has directed a film about it.

Speaking to Deadline, Gillespie revealed why he became fascinated with the GameStop short squeeze.

“My son was making Wall Street bets. He was 24 at the time living with us during COVID, like a lot of families. So we'd be hearing about it for months. He got in very early,” the Dumb Money director revealed. “He was also trying out other stocks as well. As it started building, he started doing really well. He was in options, very similar to the college kids' trajectory [in the movie].

He continued, “Got into that in a very intense two-week period and then that one day up at 6 a.m. pre-market checking things, checking every three minutes, going to bed at three in the morning after checking Europe, trying to figure out when he was going to see. But also every comment that was happening, when Elon Musk tweeted GameStop, that would spike it. Mark Cuban popping in and saying something, and all the commentary. He was sharing all of this with us and we were a little bit like the parents of Keith Gill. His investment was very small, multiplied 50 times.”

Gillespie then revealed that his son risked money in the GameStop stock. “After the first crash, you see in the film the college girls get back in again. And there is now another surge. My son's like, ‘Dad, I'm getting back in.' I do not recommend this at all. It's extremely volatile.”

As it turns out, the Dumb Money director lost all of it. That total, as he told Deadline, was $10,000 in four days.

In Dumb Money, Paul Dano plays Keith Gill — the YouTuber who drove the GameStop short squeeze craze. The film follows the journey from the perspective of the everyman like Keith and the investors. Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, and Seth Rogen also star in the film.

Dumb Money is in select theaters now.