The first full trailer for the Jennifer Lopez-led Hustlers is here, providing fans a glimpse into the provocative, dollar-bill laced, strip club-set stripper revenge film. It opens with veteran dancer Ramona (Lopez) offering newbie Destiny (Crazy Rich Asians‘ Constance Wu) a lesson on how to work the pole like a pro.
“Front hook. Ankle hook. Knee hook,” she says as she wraps her stiletto around the pole. “From here you can do the carousel.”
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From writer-director Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers is inspired by a 2015 New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler about a group of former strip club workers who turn the tables on their Wall Street clientele, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.
“These Wall Street guys, you see what they did to this country – they stole from everybody. Hard working people lost everything, and not one of these d—bags went to jail. The game is rigged and it does not reward people who play by the rules,” Lopez says in a voiceover convincing Wu of her plan.
However, as seen in the trailer, not everything goes smoothly for the girl gang though.
In addition to Lopez and Wu, the cast also includes Cardi B, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Mercedes Ruehl and Lizzo. It’s also both Lizzo and Cardi B’s film debuts, with Cardi B’s part a natural fit for the rapper who worked as a stripper before her music career took off. Her track “Money” even works as the soundtrack for the trailer.
Lopez produces, along with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jessica Elbaum, Benny Medina, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.
Scarafia told Vulture this week that Lopez and fiancé Alex Rodriguez visited a strip club together in order to bring authenticity to the movie. “She and Alex went and visited a strip club, and she was able to give me some… insights,” the director said, adding that the film fell into place once Lopez signed on.
“The moment I finished the script, I realized, ‘Oh my God, Ramona is Jennifer Lopez,’” she told the publication. “‘Jennifer Lopez is Ramona. The two of them are the same; they have all of these similar qualities. It has to be her.’ Casting was made infinitely easier once Jennifer was attached. Everybody really, really, really wanted to work with Jennifer. That was the beauty of making this movie, too: casting what felt like the right people for each part, and watching them interact the way that they should with each other.”
Scafaria added: “She’s obviously such an unbelievable dancer, but she trained so hard-core for this. Pole dancing is not like anything else. It required muscles you don’t know you have. So we did treat it a little bit like a sports movie in that way.”
Hustlers is slated to arrive in theaters on Sept. 13.
