Giancarlo Esposito, known by Breaking Bad fans as the villainous Gus Fring, is continuing his transition into big-screen features with TriStar’s next star-studded drama. Directed by Jodie Foster, Money Monster has slowly been collecting A-listers to populate what’s expected to be a serious awards contender.
Written by Jim Kouf, Alan DiFiore and Jamie Linden, the film delves into the world of insider trading through gregarious television personality Lee Gates (George Clooney). On his show, Money Monster, he offers stock market hints and tips to members of the public and miscalculates an estimate – causing stock to plummet. One member of the public whom is extremely dissatisfied with Gates’ behavior storms the TV studio with a gun in tow. The disgruntled man, Kyle Budwell – thought to be played by Unbroken‘s Jack O’Connell – holds Gates at gunpoint, demanding that he enforce a profitable stock rise by the end of the day, otherwise he’ll kill him.
Esposito will play Captain Marcus Powell, the NYPD lead officer in charge of the situation who tries to temper the escalating situation. On the sidelines with him are Julia Roberts, as the show’s producer and executive director, Nancy Fenn and Dominic West as the company CEO who cowers from the shame of the incident on his private jet.
The prospects for the movie are promising to say the least. Both in front and behind the camera lies a solid body of collective work, from newcomer O’Connell to industry stalwarts Foster and Clooney. With such a wealth of talent signed on to tell a socially-relevant story, Money Monster might be leading the charge for the 2016 Oscars.