Family and betrayal at centre of Wall Street sequel

Director Oliver Stone today described his sequel to Wall Street as a film about family and betrayal.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps sees Michael Douglas return to his Oscar-winning role as corporate raider Gordon Gekko.

The movie follows Gekko as he tries to repair his relationship with his daughter Winnie, played by Carey Mulligan, and attempts to rebuild his career after a prison spell.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, Stone said the moral ambiguity of the main characters was central to the film.

He said: "This is a story about family, this is a story about people who are balancing their love of power and money with their need for love, and that is really what it comes down to.

"Every single one of the fine actors in this betrays each other at some point in this movie, even Carey, who's often called the moral centre."

Stone said he was happy Money Never Sleeps was screening out of competition at the festival, describing such competitions as an "addiction".

He said: "I think it's a dangerous attraction, an addiction. I think people go crazy because of it.

"We all like competition, and it's good but we all compete by making movies."

Shia LaBeouf, who plays young Wall Street trader Jake Moore, said he had immersed himself in the world of investment banking to prepare for his role in the film.

LaBeouf, 23, admitted that after filming several action movies and going through a "dark" period of his life, working with traders and bankers was a steep learning process.

He said: "I felt like I was playing with the all-star team, and I was coming out of a place in my life that was pretty dark, and I didn't feel like I had a lot of confidence personally.

"I felt like the only way I could have confidence, which is the only job requirement for these men, was to be as astute as I possibly could, and these men embraced me because they embraced Oliver, and I learned a lot really quickly."