Jennifer Lopez to Play Exotic Dancer Turned Crime Ringleader in New Movie

Jennifer Lopez will play an exotic dancer turned crime ringleader in a new film titled Hustlers, which is produced by Annapurna Pictures.

According to Collider, the film was inspired by a the New York Magazine article “The Hustlers at Scores,” which was written by journalist Jessica Pressler.

The article told the story of a group of ex-gentleman’s club dancers who got together and made a plan to flip the script on their high-level Wall Street-employed clientele.

Hustlers will reportedly explore the rise and fall of the dancer’s plan in the wake of the major financial crisis that nearly ruined them. In addition to Annapurna, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Jessica Elbaum will be producing as well, through their Gloria Sanchez company.

The film will be written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, who also wrote and directed the Steve Carell/Keira Knightley film Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Scafaria also wrote Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

“The film is an empathetic look at women and men, our gender roles, what we’re valued for, what we’ve been told is our value in every movie, TV show, every corner of culture,” Scafaria said of the film. “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,” she added. “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.”

Before Hustlers, however, Lopez can bee seen in the upcoming film Second Act, which is about a woman named Maya Vargas who is overlooked for a huge promotion — even though she has been loyal to the big-box store she works at for 15 years — in favor of another person with a college degree.

“She takes the opportunity to prove that street smarts can sometimes be more valuable than book smarts,” 48-year-old Lopez said of the character, as reported by PEOPLE.

Second Act co-stars Milo Ventimiglia (This is Us), and Lopez’s very close friend Leah Remini, whom she was thrilled to be working with.

“We have an ease and natural chemistry that I think is reflected on screen,” Lopez said of working with her real-life best friend. “During filming, we’d try different things in different takes to make each other laugh, or push each other further. I’d go, ‘Do that thing you do,’ and then we’d just start riffing. We’d be totally off script, and having a ball.”

Second Act is slated to be released on Nov. 21, 2018, but Hustlers does not yet have a release date.