Idris Elba Will Play Molly’s Game With Jessica Chastain And Aaron Sorkin

Idris Elba has signed on to star in Molly’s Game, the biopic on which The West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin will make his directorial debut. Jessica Chastain is already signed on to play Molly Bloom, the daring and beautiful Olympic-class skier who, after having her dreams of competing crushed, left school and wound up running 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. Some of the many players in her game included business kingpins, Hollywood stars, sports icons, and the Russian mob.


Elba is taking on the role of Bloom’s criminal defense lawyer, who sees past the illusions she puts on and knows that there’s more to her than meets the eye. No word yet on a production schedule, but a lot of that will largely hinge on how quickly it sells at the Cannes market, where Sorkin plans to shop it around to a variety of potential buyers for U.S. distribution – Sony Pictures, curiously enough, bowed out shortly before Elba’s casting.


Mark Gordon said “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. We have a best in class team in place to bring Molly Bloom’s riveting story to audiences.”