While it looked like a longshot at the beginning of the year, the proposed movie version of Molly’s Game – the memoir penned by “The Poker Princess” Molly Bloom back in 2014 – is gaining speed towards fruition. The movie, to be the directorial debut of screenwriter extraordinaire Aaron Sorkin, has recently added a couple of new cast members and there is a set date to begin filming next month.
While the cast already includes Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain starring as Bloom and Golden Globe winner Idris Elba in the role of her attorney, there was the obvious lack of a true old style “star power” for the film. That seems to have been filled by Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, who is allegedly in talks to take on the role of Bloom’s father in the production. Currently there hasn’t been a firm announcement that the contract has been signed, but it is expected to be a mere formality.
Costner has been one of the United States’ greatest male actors, earning his stripes in such beloved films as Silverado, American Flyers, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and The Untouchables. That was but the start of his career, however, as 1990 saw him win two Oscars (for Best Picture and Best Director, plus a nomination for Best Actor), for his starring role in Dancing with Wolves. Since then, Costner has starred in Oliver Stone’s JFK, the comedy Tin Cup and won an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 2012 for his Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries performance as William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield in the History Channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.
Another name that has been attached to Molly’s Game might not be as readily known to fans, but he brings his own outstanding list of credentials to the show. Brian d’Arcy James, who has been working his way into the Tinseltown setting through his work in the 2015 Spotlight (winner of the Academy Award), is set to appear in Molly’s Game, although the exact role d’Arcy James will play isn’t known. Prior to his work in Spotlight, d’Arcy James had made his mark in another sector of the entertainment industry.
He is a Tony Award nominated performer for the musical Something Rotten! and is currently appearing on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Molly’s Game will only be one six different films that d’Arcy James will be a part of in 2017, including the story of Watergate’s “Deep Throat” in the film Felt.
What isn’t known is just how much of Bloom’s book will be making it into the film. Originally thought to be the earth-shattering expose of the celebrity underground poker world, Bloom instead wrote a completely different story. In her book, Bloom told a story of her journey from a potential Olympic skier to a runner for a gambler to running her own games in both Los Angeles and New York that were attended by celebrities such as actors Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire, Hollywood directors and executives, billionaire businessmen and other elites. Instead of the scathing story of “who did what,” however, Bloom kept the juicier stories to herself and instead delved into her own background in organizing the games and offered her own personal “navel gazing” as to why she was working in the industry.
It is expected that Sorkin is going to follow much of this same line. In interviews he has given, Sorkin has stated the movie is a “journey of discovery” and that he will not be dropping famous names into the story for “shock value.” The writing of the screenplay (by Sorkin) is supposed to use Elba’s attorney character as the mechanism to get “Bloom” (Chastain) to tell her story to him.
It has also been a lengthy journey for Molly’s Game to reach this point. Originally then-Sony Productions chairman Amy Pascal wanted Sorkin to work on another film, but Sorkin used his ample influence (and his work in such films as The Social Network and A Few Good Men and his television work on The West Wing) to push for the Bloom book adaptation. It also didn’t hurt that Pascal resigned in 2014 after North Korean e-mail hacks revealed embarrassing statements made by Pascal about Sorkin (and other people) during the negotiations.
As the cast continues to slowly leak out, it is expected that production will begin sometime before the end of the year. As of this time, there is no outlet set to release the film, but Sony is considered a frontrunner because of Sorkin’s previous work with the company.
