Although the court case surrounding the counterfeit Jefferson bottles continues against billionaire William Koch – who has asked the US appeals court to revive the lawsuit against auction house Christie’s –the book rights have already been bought to produce a blockbuster film called The Billionaire’s Vinegar.

Actor Will Smith as part of a Hollywood consortium is co-producing the film which should hit the cinemas later this year.

The film is produced by Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures and is directed by David Keopp with David Bloomfield as executive producer. Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt is to star in the film adaptation of this controversial wine story.

The book, The Billionaire’s Vinegar, is written by Benjamin Wallace and tells the story about the questionable authenticity of four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite wine, that are engraved with “Th.J” (supposedly Thomas Jefferson) that was bought by Mr Koch in 1987. The rare wines were sold to him by a German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for around $500,000 (€386,000).

A US district judge threw out Mr Koch’s lawsuit against Christie’s last March, ruling that his claim of fraudulent concealment was barred by the statute of limitations. The appeals court has yet to issue a ruling but will give a written opinion at a later date.