The Hustle (film)

The Hustle is a 2019 American comedy film directed by Chris Addison and written by Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, Dale Launer, and Jac Schaeffer. It is a female-centered remake of the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which is itself a remake of the 1964 film Bedtime Story. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, Alex Sharp, and Dean Norris, and follows two women who set out to con an internet millionaire.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on May 10, 2019, by United Artists Releasing, while Universal Pictures distributes the film in international markets. It received negative reviews from critics, who called it "empty", "cheap" and a "blast of pure unfunniness."

Plot summary
Two con artists - sophisticated Josephine and abrasive Penny - meet on their way to the French Riviera to find rich men to swindle. They initially work against each other until Penny asks Josephine to take her under her wing, and teach her how to con the way she does. It works at first, but the two then compete to trick a rich tech wiz named Thomas Westerburg.

Penny begins to fall for Thomas when she sees that he is a nice guy who wants to create a new app. In the end, Thomas tricks both women into giving him money for his app, revealing himself to be the grandson of a notorious con artist named Medusa.

Thomas meets the ladies again sometime later and proposes that they become a team. They agree.

Cast

 * Anne Hathaway as Josephine Chesterfield
 * Rebel Wilson as Penny Rust
 * Alex Sharp as Thomas Westerburg
 * Ingrid Oliver as Brigitte Desjardins
 * Emma Davies as Cathy
 * Dean Norris as	Howard Bacon
 * Timothy Simons as Jeremy
 * Rob Delaney as Todd
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Portnoy

Production
In August 2016, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was developing a female-centered remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), which in turn was a remake of Bedtime Story (1964). This time set to feature two con women, Rebel Wilson was announced as one of its stars. The project is a joint production, with Roger Birnbaum and Wilson producing through their studios Pin High Productions and Camp Sugar Productions, respectively. Jac Schaeffer wrote the updated script, with credit also going to the previous films' screenwriters Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning, and Dale Launer.

In January 2017, the working title of the film was revealed to now be Nasty Women, with Anne Hathaway set as co-lead to Wilson. The title was a reference to the "nasty woman" comment which Donald Trump directed at Hillary Clinton during their campaign debates. By March, Chris Addison was hired to direct, in his feature film helming debut. In August of the same year, Alex Sharp was cast to play a male lead in the film, a tech billionaire in his early 20s who becomes the wager center between the two experienced con-women.

Principal photography began during mid-September 2017 at both Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios in the UK, with filming also taking place at the Farnborough Airport.

Release
The film was released on May 10, 2019 by United Artists Releasing. It had previously been scheduled for August 10, 2018 and June 29, 2018 releases. Meghan Trainor recorded the song "Badass Woman" for the movie.

A special trailer for The Hustle was released to coincide with the premiere of Avengers: Endgame, which begins by spoofing Endgame trailers, and refers to Lonnie and Josephine as "The Revengers" -- a parody name that was also previously referenced by another film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor: Ragnarok.

Box office
, The Hustle has grossed $27.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $28.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $55.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Tolkien and Poms, was projected to gross $11–15 million from 2,750 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $4 million on its first day, Friday, including $774,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $13.5 million, finishing third, behind Avengers: Endgame and Detective Pikachu. In its second weekend, the film dropped 53%, to $6.1 million, finishing fifth.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 15%, based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 3.87/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Hustle's stars might make an effective comedy team in a different setting, but this gender-flipped remake of a remake adds little beyond its feminine twist." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while women at PostTrak (who made up 71% of the opening weekend demographic) gave it an overall positive score of 73%.