Adam Sandler to star in basketball comedy Hustle

Adam Sandler is set to star in Netflix's basketball comedy Hustle.

Executives at the streaming service announced their latest collaboration with the Uncut Gems actor on Monday, and revealed that Sandler will be working with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who will produce the sports comedy.

According to Variety, Sandler will play an American basketball scout who, after being unjustly fired, discovers a talented player abroad and decides to bring him to the U.S. to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Hustle will be helmed by indie breakout director Jeremiah Zagar, who made his narrative feature film directorial debut with 2018's We the Animals, from a script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters, who was a screenwriter on 2018's A Star Is Born.

Sandler, who will also produce the film via his Happy Madison banner, has an ongoing deal with Netflix which has resulted in comedies such as Murder Mystery, The Ridiculous 6, and The Do-Over, as well as dramas such as Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories, and Uncut Gems, for which he received critical acclaim and won an Independent Spirit Award.

He already has another Netflix project in the pipeline.

Hubie Halloween, which focuses on a community volunteer who finds himself in the middle of a murder case on Halloween night, is currently in post-production ahead of a release later this year.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, no production start date has been set for Hustle. Variety sources have suggested that Sandler, who previously starred in 1996 sports comedy Happy Gilmore, may shoot another movie before Hustle.