‘Money Monster’ Trailer: George Clooney Gets Taken Hostage

The first trailer for Money Monster has arrived online, promising a tense thriller unfolding in real time starring George Clooney as a financial expert / TV personality who is taken hostage — live, on the air — by Jack O’Connell, while the whole world watches. The film definitely looks like a promising follow-up from director Jodie Foster, who previously helmed the Mel Gibson dramedy The Beaver and, more recently, episodes of Orange Is the New Black.

Clooney appears to play a character inspired by TV hosts like Mad Money’s Jim Cramer, a guy with a big, fiery personality who uses his knowledge and larger-than-life confidence to convincingly advise viewers about the stock market. But when his advice on a tech firm backfires, one particularly angry investor decides to take revenge into his own hands. Here’s the official synopsis:

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.

Co-starring Julia Roberts, Dominic West, Giancarlo Esposito and Caitriona Balfe (Outlander), Money Monster hits theaters on May 13.