It was announced today that two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain and Golden Globe and SAG winner Idris Elba will star in Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game from The Mark Gordon Company and Entertainment One (eOne). Sorkin adapted the screenplay from Molly Bloom’s memoir of the same name. The film also marks the revered and award-winning screenwriter’s directorial debut. eOne and The Mark Gordon Company are financing the feature, and Mark Gordon is producing with Amy Pascal via her Pascal Pictures banner. Leopoldo Gout serves as an executive producer.
eOne will directly distribute the film in Canada, the UK, Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Spain. Sierra/Affinity, which represents all other international territories outside of the U.S., will launch sales of the film at this year’s Cannes Film Market. WME Global and CAA will co-represent the U.S. distribution rights.
“Working with Aaron once again has been truly rewarding, and we’re thrilled to have Jessica and Idris, two of the most talented actors in film today, coming on board,” said Gordon. “With the addition of Sierra/Affinity through our partnership with eOne, we have a best in class team in place to bring Molly Bloom’s riveting story to audiences.”
Sorkin added, “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.”
Molly’s Game is the true story of Molly Bloom (Chastain), a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally is her criminal defense lawyer (Elba), who learns that there’s much more to Molly than the tabloids lead us to believe.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
