THE GAMBLER (2015): John Goodman Joins Cast of Rupert Wyatt Film

John Goodman cast in director Rupert Wyatt‘s The Gambler. Fresh off his 13^th run hosting Saturday Night Live, a turn in the recently released Inside Llewyn Davis (2014) and a starring role in Amazon’s first streaming series, Alpha House (2013); there’s clearly no slowing down for John Goodman as he joins the cast of The Gambler (2015), Paramount’s upcoming remake of the 1974 drama of the same name.

The original film stars James Caan as Axel Freed, an English professor with a gambling addiction that spirals out of control. After his vice forces him to borrow from his girlfriend to support his reckless habit, he then finds himself indebted to the mob for $40,000. He is able to secure the large sum to pay back the loan sharks from his mortified mother; but old habits die hard as he loses it all again in a failed attempt to increase the money in Las Vegas. Despite unfortunate odds and a perpetual string of bad luck; Freed can’t ditch the compulsion to gamble and seems to relish in not only the high stakes thrill but the dangerous lifestyle that comes with it.

Mark Wahlberg is set the play the Freed character in the new adaption with Goodman in the role of a Jewish loan shark to whom Freed finds himself indebted. The Rupert Wyatt directed remake will co-star Brie Larson, Jessica Lange, Leland Orser, Michael K. Williams, and Travis Tope. Oscar winning screen-write for the Departed (2006); William Monahan pens this updated version of the crime drama, expected to follow the same storyline as its predecessor. Irwin Winkler, a producer on the original film, will produce this one as well.

Goodman is a veteran actor with three decades of film, television and a stint on Broadway under his belt. He is best known for his roles in Roseanne (1988), The Big Lebowski (1998) and Pixar’s hit Monsters, Inc. (2001). Goodman reprised his beloved role of Sully in the sequel Monsters University (2013) and will soon be seen alongside George Clooney and Matt Damon in The Monuments Men (2014), hitting theatres this coming February.

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Source: IMDB, The Wrap