Skip to main content

Aaron Sorkin will give directing a try with high-stakes poker story Molly's Game

aaron sorkin mollys game newsroom directing
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Given all of his success as a writer and producer, it’s surprising that The West Wing creator and Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin hasn’t given directing a try. However, that’s exactly what he’ll do for the first time with an upcoming adaptation of Molly’s Game, Molly Bloom’s 2014 memoir about her path to becoming the host of the most exclusive high-stakes poker game in the world.

Sorkin will reportedly pen the script for the film and make his directorial debut on the project, which was optioned by Steve Jobs producer Mark Gordon shortly after the book was published.

Recommended Videos

As initially reported by Deadline, Sorkin will develop, write, and direct the adaptation of Molly’s Game for Sony Pictures. The 2014 novel’s full title is Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The official synopsis of Bloom’s memoir reads as follows:

When Molly Bloom was a little girl growing up in a small Colorado town, she watched her brothers win medals, ace tests, and receive high praise from everyone they met. Molly wanted nothing more than to bask in that glow a little herself, so she pushed herself too — as a student, as an athlete. She was successful but felt like she was always coming from behind. She wanted to break free, to find a life without rules and limits, a life where she didn’t have to measure up to anyone or anything — where she could become whatever she wanted.

Molly wanted more, and she got more than she could have ever bargained for.

In Molly’s Game, Molly Bloom takes the reader through her adventures running an exclusive high-stakes private poker game. Her clients ranged from iconic stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck to politicians and financial titans so powerful they moved markets and changed the course of history. With rich detail, Molly describes a world that until now has been shrouded in glamour, privilege, and secrecy, one where she fearlessly took on the Russian and Italian mobs—until she met the one adversary she could not outsmart, even though she had justice on her side: the United States government.

Molly’s Game is an incredible coming-of-age story about a young girl who rejected convention in pursuit of her version of the American dream. It’s the story of how she gained—and then lost—her place at the table, and of everything she learned about poker, love, and life in the process.

There’s currently no timetable for the film to go into production, or a release date for the film.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
5 great Netflix movies to watch on Christmas
A TSA agent runs in Carry-On.

To quote a notorious line from a James Bond movie, "Christmas comes but once a year." Since that's the case, you better have something fun planned, or the holidays can quickly turn sour. You could watch a football game or go to the movie theater, but why bother with all that hassle when Netflix is just sitting right there?

The streamer has plenty of movies available, especially Christmas-themed ones. But the following list doesn't include such recent films as Hot Frosty or The Merry Gentlemen. Instead, these five movies are all guaranteed crowd-pleasers, even if they don't explicitly involve the holiday.

Read more
5 great drama movies to watch on Christmas
A man puts his hand on the steering wheel in a car in a scene from The Noel Diary.

'Tis the season for watching movies. It's a great opportunity to watch a movie since many of us will be off during the holiday season. There are so many Christmas movies to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Family-friendly classics like Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas Story never go out of style. Rom-coms like Love Actually and The Holiday always play well this time of year.

There are significantly fewer Christmas dramas than the two categories mentioned above. However, the dramas that are available to stream are worth watching. Our picks for drama movies to watch on Christmas include a famous psychological drama from a master, an iconic adaptation of a novel, and a Netflix romance.

Read more
1999 had the greatest lineup of Christmas movies ever
Two men work on a film projector in The Cider House Rules.

We all have our traditions for Christmas. Some sing carols around the neighborhood while others wear ugly sweaters to work and make gingerbread at home. For myself, every year I always go to one place of worship on Christmas Day: the movie theater. I'll be there this year, plunging myself into the Gothic darkness of Robert Eggers' Nosferatu remake, watching Nicole Kidman submit to unspeakable carnal pleasures in Babygirl, and witnessing the birth of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

For as long as I can remember, I've gone to the theater on Christmas and watched three or four movies, usually from different genres, and it's always been the one present to myself that's satisfied me the most. But there was one year when my holiday movie marathon hit a perfect score, all 10s, and no notes: 1999. That was a great movie year, so it stands to reason its Christmas Day offerings would tower over the rest.

Read more