This is no scam, but Iron Man himself and the director of Boyhood are making a movie about one of the most notorious scam artists in history. Robert Downey Jr. and Richard Linklater are teaming up for a film based on Gimlet Media's REPLY ALL podcast episode, "Man of the People", which told the true story of so-called medical specialist John R. Brinkley, who fooled people using a supposed miracle cure made of goat testes. That's right, goat testes.
Linklater will direct the film which Downey will star in and produce, with the film centering on Brinkley who peddled the transplant of goat testes into humans as a miracle cure-all in the early 20th century. Here's a synopsis:
The podcast tells the true story of charlatan Dr. John Brinkley who scams his way to fame and fortune using fake medicine, populism, and the newest technology of the time: radio. As Brinkley’s fame grows, he gets the attention of Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of the AMA who begins a decade long quest to take him down. REPLY ALL, a show that features stories about how people shape technology, and how technology shapes people, aired “Man of the People” on January 19, 2017.
It's unclear if Downey will play Brinkley or Fishbein, but he seems better suited to the scam artist role. We know that Downey will spend the next year shooting Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel, while Linklater has an adaptation of Last Flag Flying. So we may not see this get moving until 2018.
