Adam Sandler to Star in Netflix Basketball-themed Movie ‘Hustle’

Adam Sandler has found his destination for next project and It is Netflix.
According to Variety, Adam Sandler will star in a basketball-themed movie “Hustle” from Jeremiah Zagar the director of “We the Animals”

 

Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Sandler’s Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment are producing the pic.

 

Adam Sandler plays an American basketball scout, who, after being unjustly fired, discovers a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad, decides to bring him to the States to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

 

Legendary originally landed the pitch from Materne, Roth/Kirschenbaum and Springhill in 2018. Netflix acquired the rights from Legendary and quickly pitched it to Sandler as a starring vehicle. Fetters did a polish on the script. Zagar’s recent attachment led to Sandler quickly signing on, putting this film in prime position as his next movie. It is still unknown when production will get underway as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rattle the world.

 

What’s interesting about this logline is that it makes reference to the player being discovered “abroad,” but it neglects to identify the country. I don’t know where the player will eventually be from, but Materne’s original script was about a Chinese streetball phenom who travels from China to Los Angeles to train for the NBA Draft, thrusting him into the hype machine of pro basketball prospects. That could still be the plan, but I have a feeling it’s not anymore. Allow me to explain.

 

Regardless of where the young basketball phenom winds up being from, Sandler is a natural fit for this role, as he’s a huge basketball fan who maintains his own basketball court — Happy Madison Square Garden — on the Sony lot in Culver City, where Happy Madison produces the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. Sandler may root against LeBron in real life, since he’s a big Knicks fan, but now they are teammates on this project.

 

Sandler recently received the best reviews of his career for his 2019 dark comedy “Uncut Gems,” which earned him a Spirit Award. Sandler has been taking his time in finding his next project and had been weighing several options. Sources say he may shoot another movie before “Hustle,” if the right opportunity presents itself.

 

Zagar co-wrote and directed the 2018 movie "We the Animals", which boasts a 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and he also served as an executive producer on the Netflix documentary Voyeur, about journalist Gay Talese and motel owner Gerald Foos. He’s represented by WME and Untitled Entertainment.