50 Fun Facts About Wolf of Wall Street

Who directed The Wolf of Wall Street?

It became the highest-grossing film of his career.

Which Boardwalk Empire creator wrote the screenplay?

He earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Which stock market event costs the young Belfort his first Wall Street job in 1987?

He then lands at a Long Island boiler room selling pink-sheet penny stocks.

Which actor plays Belfort's chest-thumping mentor Mark Hanna?

Hanna kept his real name; the real broker was also convicted of fraud.

What respectable-sounding name does Belfort give his boiler-room firm in 1989?

He picks the name because it sounds respectable.

Which magazine's exposé gives Belfort the nickname 'The Wolf of Wall Street'?

The article backfires: hundreds of ambitious young brokers flock to the firm.

Jonah Hill's character Donnie Azoff is based on which real co-founder of Belfort's firm?

The name was changed after Porush threatened to sue.

Which shoe company's IPO makes Belfort a fortune in three hours in 1993?

The real Madden served 41 months in prison and had started his company in 1990 with $1,100 and a car boot full of shoes.

In whose name does Belfort open his Swiss bank account?

Julie Andrews was first offered the part but was recovering from an ankle injury, so Joanna Lumley played Emma.

How is the cash smuggled into Switzerland?

Chantalle and her relatives hold Swiss passports.

What brand of quaalude does Donnie describe as 'the holy grail'?

They take them at Belfort's home and nothing happens, until it very much does.

Which car does Belfort wreck while crawling home on quaaludes?

He then snorts cocaine to counteract the pills and gives a choking Donnie the Heimlich manoeuvre.

On the yacht trip to Italy in 1996, what news forces a detour towards Switzerland?

The captain is ordered to sail to Monaco and the yacht capsizes in a storm.

Who ultimately informs on Belfort to the FBI as part of a plea deal?

Jean Dujardin plays Jean-Jacques Saurel.

How does the FBI discover Belfort is still cooperating with Donnie?

He tries to warn Donnie in writing while wearing a wire.

What does Belfort do for a living after prison in the film's final scene?

The real Belfort plays the host who introduces him at the Auckland seminar.

Which real person, the subject of the film, cameos as the host of the Auckland seminar at the end?

Bo Dietl also appears as himself.

Which director appears uncredited as Dwayne, the boss of the Long Island penny-stock firm?

Rob Reiner plays Belfort's father Max, whose name was kept from real life.

Which studio bought the rights with DiCaprio in 2007, then shelved the film over content restrictions?

In 2010 Warner offered it to Ridley Scott with Brad Pitt as Belfort before abandoning it.

Which independent company finally financed the film without content restrictions?

Its co-founder Riza Aziz was arrested in 2019 as investigators traced its money to the 1MDB scandal.

How much did Jonah Hill say he was paid for the film?

It was SAG-AFTRA scale; DiCaprio, who also produced, got $10 million.

Which actress was rejected for Naomi as 'too old', though DiCaprio was a decade older?

Naomi is based on Belfort's real second wife, Nadine Caridi.

How many times is the word 'fuck' used in the film?

It took the Guinness record from Scorsese's own Casino (422) and lost it to Swearnet: The Movie (935), but still leads among major releases.

What was the four-year-old chimpanzee in the film, named Chance, taught to do in three weeks?

A Florida sanctuary also supplied a lion named Handsome, since Stratton Oakmont's logo was a lion.

Roughly how much did The Wolf of Wall Street gross worldwide?

In Australia it became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever.

How many Academy Award nominations did the film receive?

It won none of them.

In which Golden Globe category did DiCaprio win Best Actor for the film?

The 'comedy' classification of a film about fraud and drug abuse raised eyebrows.

What is the film's running time?

Paramount had first announced 165 minutes before settling on a full three hours.

How much did the film's UAE distributor cut, muting expletives on top?

It was banned outright in Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal and Zimbabwe.

On what date was the film released in the United States?

It finished fifth on its opening weekend behind the holiday competition.

How long did the real subject of the film serve in prison?

He was sentenced to four years but got the reduction for wearing a wire on his colleagues.

Which comedian shared a prison cell with the real Belfort and encouraged him to write his memoir?

The memoir was published by Bantam in 2007 and followed by Catching the Wolf of Wall Street in 2009.

How much restitution was the real Belfort ordered to pay his 1,513 defrauded clients?

By 2013 only about $10 million had been recovered.

What did the real Belfort sell door to door on Long Island before Wall Street?

He claims the business grew to shift 5,000 pounds of beef and fish a week before it failed.

Jordan Belfort quit which graduate programme on its first day after the dean said it was no longer a route to riches?

The dean told the class 'the golden age of dentistry is over'.

In which New York borough was the real Belfort born?

He was raised in Bayside, Queens.

How many stock brokers did Belfort's firm employ at its peak?

The NASD finally expelled the firm in December 1996.

How many companies' IPOs was Belfort's firm responsible for?

Belfort and Porush admitted manipulating the stock of at least 34 companies over seven years.

How long did the real-life model for Donnie Azoff serve in prison?

He was ordered to pay $200 million in restitution and later insists the film's Azoff is not him.

Which origin story of the shoe designer whose IPO Belfort rigged is true?

After his conviction he was forced out as CEO but drew $700,000 a year as a 'creative consultant', even in prison.

Which actress plays Naomi Lapaglia, the lingerie designer who becomes Belfort's second wife?

The role was Robbie's breakout. Nadine Macaluso, the real ex-wife the character is based on, later said the portrayal of the relationship was accurate.

Which Friday Night Lights actor plays Patrick Denham, the FBI agent pursuing Belfort?

Denham is a stand-in for the real agent Gregory Coleman. In the film Belfort tries to bribe him on his yacht and fails.

What does Donnie eat belonging to a Stratton broker he catches slacking off?

The broker is played by Thomas Middleditch, later the star of Silicon Valley. The scene is one of several animal moments that drew criticism of the production.

After the yacht sinks, what destroys the plane sent to fly the group on to Geneva?

Belfort takes it as a sign from God and tries to get sober. His captain had been ordered to sail to Monaco to dodge border patrols before the storm capsized the yacht.

In 1987 the 22-year-old Belfort starts as a stockbroker at which Wall Street firm?

His boss there is the chest-thumping Mark Hanna, who teaches him that the real goal is to make the brokers rich, not the clients.

Which longtime Scorsese editor said 'we've lost the battle' over plans to shoot digitally?

Schoonmaker has cut every Scorsese feature since Raging Bull. Scorsese, a champion of celluloid, had first gone digital on Hugo because it was shot in 3D.

The film premiered on December 17, 2013 at which New York City venue?

The original November 15 release date had been pushed back while the runtime was trimmed. It was still rated R rather than NC-17 by the MPA.

In 2010 Warner Bros. offered the film to Ridley Scott with which actor lined up to play Belfort?

The studio abandoned that version too. Scorsese had earlier left the project to make Shutter Island before finally returning to direct.

Producer Riza Aziz allegedly funded the film with money stolen from which country's 1MDB fund?

Aziz is the stepson of former prime minister Najib Razak. Red Granite paid the US government $60 million to settle a civil suit without admitting wrongdoing.

What CinemaScore grade did opening-week audiences give it, the lowest of any film that week?

The Los Angeles Times suggested the marketing had drawn conservative viewers expecting a more moralistic tone than the film delivers.