LOS ANGELES, March 27 — Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has reportedly signed on to take the lead role in the upcoming Sony Pictures film about one of the biggest scandals to rock the world of fine-wine collecting.

Based on the Benjamin Wallace book of the same name, the film tells the true story of several “fake” bottles of wine that were sold at a Christie’s auction as part of Thomas Jefferson’s collection and how their unwitting buyer, Bill Koch, spent millions of dollars on an investigation once he realised he’d been duped.

Deadline, which broke the story, reports that the script is by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (“Wanted”, “3:10 to Yuma”) and that the project has already been in development since 2008, when Sony secured the rights to the then unpublished book. — AFP-Relaxnews