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The first trailer for Money Monster takes George Clooney hostage

George Clooney is no stranger to tense dramas (and comedies, musicals, and just about every other genre, for that matter), but in the upcoming film Money Monster he takes on the world of high-stakes investing from a unique angle — as the hostage of a man who lost everything due to bad stock tips.

Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for the upcoming film, which is directed by Jodie Foster and casts Clooney as a hotshot television investing guru who finds himself at the mercy of an average guy who lost his family’s savings due to bad stock advice that Clooney’s character gave him. Unbroken star Jack O’Connell plays the film’s hostage-taker, who intends to hold Clooney’s character accountable and raise the value of the stock that his family is relying on.

Along with Clooney and O’Connell, the film also Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts, who plays the producer for the investing show hosted by Clooney’s character. We Are Marshall screenwriter Jamie Linden provided the script for the film.

While the trailer offers a good summary of the fast pace of the film and the story that goes beyond a simple hostage situation, the studio also provided a synopsis for the film that provides a bit more context.

In the taut and tense thriller Money Monster, Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a bombastic TV personality whose popular financial network show has made him the money wiz of Wall Street. But after he hawks a high-tech stock that mysteriously crashes, an irate investor (Jack O’Connell) takes Gates, his crew, and his ace producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) hostage live on air. Unfolding in real time, Gates and Fenn must find a way to keep themselves alive while simultaneously uncovering the truth behind a tangle of big money lies.

Money Monster is the fourth feature-length film directed by Foster, and is scheduled to hit theaters May 13.

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Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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