"Hustlers" Could Be the Best Movie of the Summer

Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, and Cardi B are coming for our necks, y'all.

After weeks of teasing us, the first full length trailer for Hustlers is here. Watch below:

Hustlers | Official Trailer [HD] | In Theaters September 2019 www.youtube.com

The film, inspired by writer Jessica Presser's article, "The Hustlers at Scores," for New York Magazine, is about a group of strip club workers who decide to rob their deep-pocketed, greedy Wall Street clients after the 2008 market-crash. The too-good-to-be-true story follows Constance Wu's character, Destiny, as she looks for a life that allows her to take care of her grandma and "maybe go shopping every once in awhile." After Crazy Rich Asians, Hustlers appears to be the kind of "artistically challenging" role the actress has been looking for. Although, in the trailer at least, Jennifer Lopez outshines the rest of the star-studded cast as the seasoned matriarch of the stripper clan. The Academy should be prepared to finally give the triple threat the Oscar she deserves (Lopez was robbed for Selena. Yeah, I said it).

With Hustlers, writer-director Lorene Scafari—of Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist and Seeking a Friend for The End of The World fame—decided to take on real women's stories instead of doing another reboot, and she had very specific stars in mind to make it happen. The screenwriter chased after stripper-turned-rap-sensation, Cardi B, and breakout star, Lizzo, for over a year to get them involved in the project. Before her screenplay was completed, the director envisioned Cardi B in the role of Diamond, elaborating for IndieWire, "I think musicians and singers, performers, they're just naturally very great at timing and rhythm and they just kind of are natural-born actors," She continued, "Lizzo, she comes with so much personality, Cardi comes with so much personality. I wanted to write them characters that showed off their personalities, but I also wanted to make sure that they still felt like they were part of the world and part of the ensemble and that nobody's sticking out and everybody is still existing in the same movie."

In the midst of a summer bummer at the box office, Hustlers gives us hope that the season will end on a high note. Scafaria seems to balance the film's big budget, star-studded appearances with the style and technique of a woman with a vision—and it's a delight to witness. Hopefully, the movie will live up to the trailer.