Jodie Foster’s financial thriller Money Monster starring George Clooney is in final negotiations with Julia Roberts (Erin Brokovich) and Jack O’Connell (Starred Up) to round out the main cast, The Wrap reports. The film will follow Lee Gates (Clooney), a financial TV personality offering stock advice to his viewers. O’Connell is in talks to take the role of Kyle Budwell, a blue collar worker, husband, and soon-to-be father who holds Gates hostage on-air to expose the exploitative practices of Wall Street and the money market. Roberts is being looked at for Nancy Fenn, “Money Monster’s” producer and potential love interest for Clooney.
Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall) wrote the screenplay for the project that was highly sought after from several distributors, and finally won by TriStar,
This will be the third collaboration between Clooney and Roberts after working together on the Ocean’s trilogy and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Up Ahead for Roberts is an English remake of the Argentine film The Secret in Their Eyes as well as another (untitled) project with Ryan Murphy, following up this year’s award winning The Normal Heart.
O’Connell’s growing filmography includes performances in Starred Up, 71, and Angelina Jolie’s soon-to-be released Unbroken. O’Connell has several other films in production including the 17th century romance Tulip Fever with Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, as well as a role in the Joe Cornish period thriller Section 6.