When a former waiter turned movie mogul, Giancarlo Parretti, buys the legendary MGM/UA for $1.3 billion in 1990, everyone hopes this charismatic Italian, with a mysterious mountain of cash to spend, will make the lion roar again. But within weeks, the 17th James Bond movie is put on ice, pay cheques to Dustin Hoffman bounces, and hundreds of MGM/UA staff are fired. Parretti soon faces an FBI investigation for alleged financial irregularities and his ownership of Hollywood's most famous studio spirals out of control.