After extending his distribution deal with the streaming service earlier this year, Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems) has found the next project to star in at Netflix with the LeBron James (Space Jam: A New Legacy) produced Hustle, according to Variety.
RELATED: Adam Sandler Extends Deal with Netflix for Four More Movies
The film, which is being penned by Taylor Materne (NBA 2K20) and Will Fetters (A Star is Born), will follow an American basketball scout who, after being unjustly fired, discovers a once-in-a-lifetime player internationally and decides to bring him to the United States in hopes of proving the both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.
Sandler is set to star in the film as well as produce through his Happy Madison banner alongside Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment banner, with We the Animals director Jeremiah Zagar attached to helm the project.
Hustle was originally set up at Legendary Pictures, who landed the pitch from Materne, Roth/Kirschenbaum and Springhill in 2018, but after Netflix acquired the rights to the story, they pitched it to Sandler as a starring vehicle and brought on Fetter to polish the script and Zagar to direct, which prompted the 53-year-old comic to quickly sign on for the role.
RELATED: Netflix Orders Murder Mystery Sequel With Adam Sandler
Sandler is coming off of the best-received performance of his career in the A24 crime thriller Uncut Gems from the Safdie Brothers (Good Time), which earned him a Spirit Award and is set to debut on Netflix later this month. He originally signed a major distribution deal with the streaming service in 2014 and quickly got to work with a film a year until he penned a new four-film deal with Netflix earlier this year, though sources report after his acclaimed work in Gems, he is taking his time to find the right next project and may shoot another movie prior to Hustle should the opportunity present itself.
