“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” Sandler said. “So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it so we find someone in Latin America or Europe?’ So the next thing you know, I’m in Majorca [Spain]…[but] it was originally, ‘Find a player in China.’”
Netflix does not operate in China, thus it would not want to make an original movie with a plot that hinges on the country. The move to Spain opened up the door for real-life NBA basketball player Juancho Hernangómez to be cast opposite Sandler. Hernangómez got his start in the NBA playing for the Denver Nuggets and was recently traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Memphis Grizzlies.
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“[Hernangómez] acts better than me in every scene,” Sandler said. “It’s just like, god damn it. This guy is falling, crying in the middle of a scene, doing the right thing. Every joke he says, I’m like, ‘He said it smoother than I would have.’”
“Hustle” also stars Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, and Robert Duvall. The script comes from Taylor Materne and Will Fetters. LeBron James, who just made a splash in Hollywood with “Space Jam: Legacy,” is attached as a producer on the project.
Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company produced “Hustle.” Director Zagar cut his teeth in documentary and short-form filmmaking, but his feature debut “We the Animals” broke out of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The coming-of-age drama won the NEXT Innovator Award and went on to earn five Film Independent Spirit Award nominations. “Hustle” will be Zagar’s biggest project to date. The film does not yet have a release date.
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