Sorkin’s Directorial Debut Starts Production in Toronto
 
Toronto/Los Angeles – November XX, 2016 – MOLLY’S GAME starring two-time Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner Jessica Chastain and Golden Globe® and SAG® winner Idris Elba will commence principal photography on November 9 in Toronto, Canada.  Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) is directing from his own script, an adaptation of Molly Bloom’s memoir of the same name. The film marks Sorkin’s feature film directorial debut. Mark Gordon is producing with Amy Pascal via her Pascal Pictures banner. Leopoldo Gout and Matt Jackson serve as executive producers.
 
The feature is being financed by Entertainment One (eOne) and The Mark Gordon Company. STX Entertainment is distributing the film in the United States, with eOne directly distributing the film in Canada, the UK, Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Spain. Sierra/Affinity represents all other international territories outside of the US.
 
“I’m grateful to Mark, Amy, eOne and, especially Molly Bloom, for trusting me with this incredible story. Molly is a unique movie heroine and I’m confident that Jessica, along with Idris, Kevin and the rest of the cast are going to deliver electrifying performances” said Sorkin.
 
MOLLY’S GAME tells the true story of Molly Bloom (Chastain), a charismatic, young, Olympic-class skier who ran 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. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally is her criminal defense lawyer (Elba), who learns that there's much more to Molly than the tabloids lead us to believe.
 
In addition to Chastain and Elba, the filmmakers have assembled a top-tier cast and crew, including Academy Award® winner Kevin Costner (Draft Day, Dances With Wolves), Michael Cera (Juno, “Arrested Development”), Jeremy Strong (The Big Short, The Judge, Lincoln),  Bill Camp (“Loving, Midnight Special, “The Night Of”), Chris O’Dowd (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Saphires, Bridesmaids, ), Brian d’Arcy James (Rebel in the Rye, Spotlight), Academy Award® nominated Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves, The Green Mile), director of photography Charlotte Christensen (The Girl on the Train, Fences) and editor David Rosenbloom (Black Mass, The Infiltrator).
 
A renowned playwright and screenwriter, Sorkin made his Broadway playwriting debut with the award-winning military courtroom drama A Few Good Men which he later adapted into film, starring Jack Nicolson and Tom Cruise. A Few Good Men received four Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture and five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Screenplay. Sorkin’s additional film credits include The Social Network, for which he won the Academy Award®, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay; Moneyball, which won the Critics’ Choice Award and New York Film Critics Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; and recently Steve Jobs, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. Sorkin’s television credits include “The West Wing”, which earned 26 Emmy Awards throughout its seven seasons, “Sports Night,” which garnered 8 Emmy Award nominations, “Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip,” and “The Newsroom,” which both respectively earned five Emmy Award nominations. Sorkin is also adapting Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird for Broadway, which will run during the 2017−2018 season. 
 
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About Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a global independent studio that specialises in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. The Company’s diversified expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales, family programming, merchandising and licensing, and digital content. Through its global reach and expansive scale, powered by deep local market knowledge, the Company delivers the best content to the world.

Entertainment One’s robust network includes film and television studio The Mark Gordon Company; content creation venture Amblin Partners with Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, and Reliance Entertainment; leading feature film production and global sales company Sierra Pictures; unscripted television production companies Renegade 83, Paperny Entertainment and Force Four Entertainment; world-class music labels Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang; and award-winning digital agency Secret Location.
 
The Company’s rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 100,000 hours of film and television content and approximately 40,000 music tracks.
 
About The Mark Gordon Company
The Mark Gordon Company is an independent film and television studio helmed by Mark Gordon, who has produced more than 100 motion picture and television projects. 
 
Forthcoming projects from The Mark Gordon Company’s film division include THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS with Lasse Hallström directing, and starring Keira Knightly, Morgan Freeman, Mackenzie Foy, and Misty Copeland; MOLLY'S GAME starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, with Aaron Sorkin writing and directing; MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh; and war drama SAND CASTLE directed by Fernando Coimbra, starring Nicholas Hoult and Henry Cavill. Past film credits include SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (which earned Gordon Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Picture), STEVE JOBS, WAR DOGS, 2012, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, SPEED, SOURCE CODE, THE MESSENGER, THE PATRIOT, among others. As an executive producer and financier, Gordon’s credits include TOMB RAIDER, WONDER BOYS, THE PAINTED VEIL, A SIMPLE PLAN and PRIMARY COLORS.
 
The company is currently in production on several established television series including “Ray Donovan” (Showtime), "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC), "Criminal Minds" and franchise spin-off “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” (CBS), and “Quantico” (ABC). The company also serves as the lead studio for new series “Designated Survivor” starring Kiefer Sutherland and “Conviction” starring Hayley Atwell, both premiering on ABC this fall. Past television credits include “Private Practice" (ABC), "Army Wives" (Lifetime) and “Reaper” (CW).
 
About STX Entertainment
STX Entertainment is a fully integrated, diversified, global media company designed from inception to unlock value from the 21st century’s changed media landscape. STX specializes in the development, production, marketing and distribution of talent-driven films, television, and digital media content, with a unique ability to maximize the impact of content across worldwide, multiplatform distribution channels, including unparalleled global capabilities and direct passage into the China market.
 
STX Entertainment is led by accomplished businessman Robert Simonds and was co-founded by Bill McGlashan, managing partner of the growth division of leading global private investment firm TPG, which has $70 billion of capital under management.  The Company’s Board of Directors includes prominent leaders in global finance and entertainment, including Frank Biondi, former President and CEO of Viacom, Inc. and former Chairman and CEO of Universal Studios; Tony Vinciquerra, former Chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group; Gigi Pritzker, CEO of Madison Wells Media; David Bonderman, founding partner of TPG; John Zhao, CEO of Hony Capital; and Dominic Ng, Chairman of East West Bank, among others.
 
In addition to TPG Growth, other investors include Hony Capital, a leading private equity firm in China; PCCW, Southeast Asia’s largest Internet and cable services provider; Tencent Holdings, China’s leading provider of online products and services; Dominic Ng, Chairman of East West Bank; DNS Capital (representing the business interests of Gigi Pritzker and her immediate family); and Beau Wrigley, former Chairman and CEO of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, among others.
 
For more information, please visit https://www.stxentertainment.com/.