As you’ve likely already heard, the upcoming MGM comedy, “The Hustle” starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson is a remake of director Frank Oz’s 1988 comedy “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine as the criminal rivals. Originally titled “Nasty Women” which is better and a nice play on recent cultural politics, apparently, the optics on that one weren’t great and MGM retitled it “The Hustle.” But “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” was about two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can swindle a young American heiress out of her money first. This gender-flipped remake has a more feminist bent and the two swindlers, at odds with each other, team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them. I’m sure this will go over well with the MRA crowd.
“Why are women better suited to the con than men?” Hathaway asked in the first trailer of the film, to which Wilson responds, “Cause we’re used to faking it.” This trailer has lots of similar bon mots.
Here’s the official synopsis that really doesn’t tell you a lot:
In the hilarious new comedy THE HUSTLE, Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them.
Directed by Chris Addison (“Veep,” “The Thick Of It“) with a script from “Captain Marvel” co-screenwriter Jac Schaeffer, “The Hustle” co-stars Tim Blake Nelson, Alex Sharp, Ingrid Oliver, and Emma Davies.
“The Hustle” hits theaters on May 10 where it’ll go head to head with Warner Bros.’ “Detective Pikachu” and perhaps it’s true competition, STX Entertainment’s “Poms,” but it remains to be seen if Pam Grier and Diane Keaton will be opposition against the inspired pairing of Wilson and Hathaway. Time will tell, check out the trailer below.