

The film received positive reviews (and some moral censure) from critics and appeared on several "best of the year" lists. Department of Justice and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigated Red Granite Pictures, and producer Riza Aziz was arrested in 2019. The film's financing became implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal the U.S. It set a Guinness World Record for the most instances of swearing in a film. The film was controversial for its moral ambiguity and lack of sympathy for victims, as well as explicit sexual content, extreme profanity, depiction of hard drug use, and use of animals during production.

It was a major commercial success, grossing $406.9 million worldwide during its theatrical run, becoming Scorsese's highest-grossing film. It was the first major American film to be released exclusively through digital distribution. The film premiered in New York City on December 17, 2013, and was released in the United States on December 25, 2013, by Paramount Pictures. Filming took place in late 2012 in New York City and was shot mostly on film stock. The project was later greenlit by the independent production house Red Granite Pictures. secured the rights to Belfort's memoir in 2007, with Scorsese set to direct, but content restrictions stalled production.

The film also stars Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his second wife, Naomi Lapaglia, and Kyle Chandler as FBI agent Patrick Denham.ĭiCaprio and Warner Bros. Leonardo DiCaprio, who was also a producer of the film, stars as Belfort in his fifth collaboration with Scorsese following Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2010). It recounts Belfort's career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm, Stratton Oakmont, engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street, leading to his downfall. The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American epic biographical black comedy crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter, based on Jordan Belfort's 2007 memoir of the same name.
