I had a brainstorm the other day and I think the time is right to act on it. I want to remake The Hustler with an entirely new film. By the way the title to a film cannot be copyrighted so I have every right to use that name again if I so desire, and I do! Of course that starts with a script, and I'll be the one to produce that. But I need help and that's why I'm announcing this on here. I know that AZB is the greatest resource there is for the knowledge that I seek.
What I'm looking for is all the best hustles you have ever seen. Poolroom hustles are my first choice and other similar hustles being second. Maybe you know how someone beat the books or outwitted the ponies. That's all good stuff as far as I'm concerned. I want my hustler to be a little more well rounded than Fast Eddie. I probably know ten or twenty hustles that I've seen in poolrooms in my life but I'm looking for the most innovative ones to write about. Obviously my main character(s) will be hustlers, so I have to give them some clever ways to hustle. What I'm not looking for is criminal ways to steal from people but con games of all kinds, including some gray areas that may border on illegal, could work as well. For instance I have seen crooked dice tables and blackjack boxes, but I may not use any of them in my story, other than to mention they exist.
Any other ideas that you think may work for this script would also be appreciated. Let's see what we can create together. Rather than sit around and bemoan the state of the billiard industry, let's be proactive and do something about it. I don't know how much difference a new movie like this will make, but it would be fun to try, and I'm up for it. I know that I probably can't write a better script than Robert Roessen and Sydney Carroll did for The Hustler, but I can damn sure do my best to write a good script that will be entertaining. I wrote Pool Wars and people loved it, so why not write a new script about The Hustler.
I have begun the process of compiling my notes now. I will organize them first and create a rough outline before embarking on writing this script. Rather than send me PM's here (that would be too cumbersome), I'm requesting that you send your ideas to me via e-mail, jayhelfert@yahoo.com. I will answer all e-mails and let you know later if it's something that I'm incorporating into the script.
You never know unless you try! :yes:
I don’t think it was the ‘love story’, or ‘con game tricks’ that caused the original movie to kickstart a resurgence of billiards popularity. I like the idea of a well made ‘STING’-type historically-accurate epic, that exemplifies the beauty & precision of the game (no trick shots in competition this time), and revives the ‘character/winning’ theory. A contemporarilly situated plot wouldn’t likely make the ‘video game’ generation take notice.