Money Monster is a 2016 American crime thriller film directed by Jodie Foster, from a screenplay by Jamie Linden, Alan Di Fiore, and Jim Kouf.

It stars George Clooney as financial television host Lee Gates and Julia Roberts as his producer Patty Fenn, as they are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes them and their crew as hostage.

Less than 24 hours earlier, IBIS Clear Capital's stock inexplicably cratered, apparently due to a glitch in a trading algorithm, costing investors $800 million.

Midway through the show, a deliveryman wanders onto the set, pulls a gun and takes Lee hostage, forcing him to put on a vest laden with explosives.

With this clue, along with messages from Camby's phone, Patty and the Money Monster team contact a group of Icelandic hackers to seek the truth.

Camby attempted to bribe union leader Moshe Mambo to stop the strike, but he refused, causing IBIS' stock to sink under the weight of its position in the failing company.

In the aftermath, the SEC announces that IBIS will be placed under investigation, while Camby is charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The project Money Monster was first announced by Deadline on February 7, 2012, when Daniel Dubiecki launched his own film production company, The Allegiance Theater.

[9] On July 25, 2014, TriStar Pictures won the rights to finance and release the film, whose latest draft was written by Jamie Linden.

[10] On May 8, 2014, it was announced that George Clooney was director Foster's choice to star in the film as a TV personality, Lee Gates, but the deal was not yet confirmed.

[7] In July 2014, it was announced that production would begin after Clooney completed the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar!,[10] and principal photography on the film began in New York City on February 27, 2015.

[3] In North America, the film was released alongside The Darkness and the wide expansion of Green Room, and was projected to gross $10–12 million from 3,104 theaters in its opening weekend.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Money Monster's strong cast and solidly written story ride a timely wave of socioeconomic anger that's powerful enough to overcome an occasionally muddled approach to its worthy themes.

"[27] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com, in a mixed review, praised Clooney's "enormous charisma", but criticized the film for not "being quite as thrilling or thought-provoking as [its] premise sounds.

[30] Richard Brody of The New Yorker wrote that Foster "keeps the action vigorous and the suspense high", but said that the film was "swallowed up by the very hectoring and impersonal sensationalism that it derides.

[32] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said that what the script lacks in "emotional subtext" can be found in the cast's "richly detailed" performances.

[33] In a mixed review, Robbie Collin of The Telegraph called the film a "raucous hostage thriller that eschews explanation for wish-fulfillment", concluding by saying that "in the heat of the moment, Money Monster's bluster and nerve keeps you hooked.