The directorial debut for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin – the poker-themed Molly’s Game, based on the book of the same name written by “The Poker Princess” Molly Bloom – is beginning to fill out as to its cast. While that is normally a good thing for a film, there are other problems that have arose for the production that are putting its future in a bit of jeopardy.
According to the Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit, British actor Idris Elba has joined the cast of the film as the male lead opposite of actor Jessica Chastain, who had been previously cast to play the part of Bloom in the film. Elba’s character, which went unnamed in Kit’s report, will be Chastain’s criminal defense lawyer that “learns that there is much more to Molly than the tabloids lead us to believe.” Sorkin himself was particularly excited for the pairing of two actors, commenting, “The casting of Jessica and Idris in the two lead roles is any filmmaker’s dream come true. They’re two of the greatest actors of their generation, paired for the first time, and their chemistry will be electric.”
Elba has an outstanding background in television and cinema, most notably starring on HBO’s The Wire as drug lord Russell “Stringer” Bell. From that acclaimed program, Elba went on to the BBC’s Luther, which earned him a Golden Globe award in 2012 for Best Actor. Most recently, Elba was vastly overlooked for his role in the film Beasts of No Nation, which many thought should have netted Elba an Academy Award nomination.
Elba’s exact role in the movie seems to be something that Sorkin will be using as a literary device to drive the story. Throughout her book, Bloom does not mention any attorneys that were particularly noteworthy – especially any that were noteworthy after her arrest in the massive Russian gambling ring in 2013 – and her run-ins with the law were minimal when she was operating as one of the best poker hostesses in the world. Then again, Sorkin seems to be taking quite a bit of artistic license with his adaptation of the screenplay.
In some interviews regarding his work with Molly’s Game, Sorkin has admitted that he will not be using the actual names of players who appeared at the tables Bloom provided. As such, the stories of actors such as Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and others battling it out with Hollywood producers, businessmen and various “power brokers” from international finance won’t be making it to the screen. “I don’t want the movie to be about gossip,” Sorkin has previously said about the film, basically stating that he is more interested in Bloom’s personal story of struggling to “find herself” and, in the end, not give up a story to make a buck – something that might not sit well with the studios or the potential audience.
In fact, it isn’t sitting well with one of Sorkin’s major supporters. Previously thought to be the frontrunner to be the distributor for Molly’s Game due to their close ties with his previous works, Sony Pictures has reportedly pulled out as distributor of the Sorkin film in the United States. The films financial backing, WME Global and CAA, now will have to take the film to the Cannes Film Festival in France to find a new distributor. The Cannes Film Festival started on Wednesday and will conclude on May 22.
With the resumes of those involved, it shouldn’t take them long to find a new distributor. Besides Chastain (a two-time Academy Award nominee) and Elba, Sorkin is arguably one of the best U. S. screenwriter/playwrights of the last 50 years. The creator of the play and screenwriter for A Few Good Men, Sorkin has penned some of the most seminal work in television and theatrical history. In addition to A Few Good Men, Sorkin has also written and/or created The American President, Bulworth, Sports Night, The West Wing, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Social Network, Moneyball, The Newsroom and Steve Jobs. He has also won five Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award.
