Jennifer Lopez Announces Starring Role As Strip Club Ringleader In Revenge Movie, ‘Hustlers’
Jennifer Lopez has lined up an interesting new movie gig, and one of the co-producers of the film says she was a shoe-in for the job. Lopez took to Instagram to announce that she is starring in and producing the upcoming movie Hustlers. The singer and World of Dance judge said the new movie is “based on a true story of a group of strong ambitious bad-ss women.”
The film is an adaptation of the 2015 New York magazine article “Hustlers at Scores” which detailed a group of former strip club employees who devised a scheme to steal money from their rich Wall Street clients, according to The Hollywood Reporter. J.Lo will play an ex-stripper and the ringleader of the group of con artist women who band together and cook up the plan to get a bigger piece of the pie from their male clients in the New York City-set film.
Annapurna and Gloria Sanchez will produce the female spin on the Robin Hood-inspired story with Lorene Scafaria co-producing. Scafaria said that the movie will take an “empathetic” look at gender roles for both men and women.
“Men have been told they’re worth the size of their bank accounts. Women have been told they’re worth the symmetry of their faces, their bodies, their beauty, and that’s what this film is based on. The rules of the club are the rules of the world,” Scafaria said.
Jennifer Lopez will be starring as the ringleader of a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street client in #Hustlers for Annapurna Pictures https://t.co/cEs5Hevrek
— Variety (@Variety) August 6, 2018
Scafaria also praised the film’s leading lady, Lopez, who was named the 2018 recipient of the MTV Video Music Awards’ Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her work as a pop superstar and starred in hit movies such as Selena, The Boy Next Door, and The Wedding Planner.
“There is no other actor who could embody this raw and dynamic character with such complexity, humanity and intelligence. It’s always been her. She’s f—ing Jennifer Lopez.”
The name of Jennifer Lopez’s character has not yet been revealed, but W magazine notes Lopez will most likely play a character based on “Samantha Foxx” from the magazine article. Foxx was the mastermind behind the scheme whom the magazine describes as “a single mother from the Bronx” who mixed a “Jessica Rabbit” body with “a mercenary streak worthy of Gordon Gekko.”
Hustlers sounds more risqué than Lopez’s usual roles, and the independent movie is also a departure from the studio films and more mainstream fare she usually takes on. But the multi-talented star recently told ABC News she’s going through an especially creative period right now.
“I am very passionate about my work and what I do,” Lopez said. “I have a lot of creative ideas. I feel this is a very creative time for me, you know, in my life. “
