Idris Elba is one heck of a busy man these days. He voices Shere Khan, the main antagonist, inJon Favreau’sThe Jungle Book, which has been doing gangbusters at both the domestic and international box office, and his new action-thriller,Bastille Day, has been opening up throughout Europe since late April and will continue on until the end of June. And that’s not even bringing up his work in the upcomingStar Trek Beyondand more vocal work for Pixar’s anticipated sequel,Finding Dory,before he’ll be seen in the long-awaited adaptation ofStephen King’sThe Dark TowerandJohn Ridley’s TV mini-seriesGuerrilla.
Now, Elba seems primed to add his name to another major work that’s been making the rounds recently, namelyMolly’s Game. The film, which tells the story of Molly Bloom, the young, Olympic-class skier who was arrested for running a high-stakes poker game that catered to the Hollywood elite, will be the first film directed by famed television and movie writerAaron Sorkin, who also adapted the screenplay from the memoir of the same name. AsThe Wrapreports, Elba is in talks to join the film in the role of Bloom’s criminal defense attorney, co-starring alongsideJessica Chastain, who has already been confirmed to play the titular role.
Despite seeming like a great package deal with Sorkin, Chastain, and Elba seemingly on board, there’s a twist to all of this. Just around the same time that Elba’s name started being thrown around,The Wrapconfirmed that Sony, the company originally set to back the film, dropped out of the production. No clear reason has been given for the company’s departure, but the film will now be a hot commodity at the Cannes Film Market, set for later this month. Considering the fact that Sorkin has an excellent track record in film, with the arguable exception of last year’s fascinating but problematicSteve Jobs, I’m looking forward to hearing more about what caused Sony to run from the film. Hopefully, we’ll get word soon, but for now, I’m more interested to hear confirmation that the film will indeed see the light of day stateside.
