Many moons ago, back when the Earth was still cooling, Todd Phillips made documentaries. Then he switched to the likes of Road Trip, Old School and became a director (and producer) of comedies. Now it appears he’s ready to try his hand at a drama with Paramount’s remake of The Gambler.
If the title sounds familiar, it might be because James Caan starred in the 1974 crime drama, about a literature professor who runs into debt and serious trouble with gangsters.
But more likely, you might recall that last year, Martin Scorsese was hovering around the project, looking at it as a possible directing job. He had The Departed’s William Monahan crank out a draft of the script, but now it appears that Phillips will be the man to bring it to life. We blame all that time spent in Vegas filming the original **Hangover **for his apparent gambling addiciton. Still, we’re interested to see what he does given less jokey material.
It’s not like Phillips is leaving comedy behind. In fact, he’ll make the third Hangover outing before tackling The Gambler. The Wolfpack is set to go back before cameras next month.