Todd Phillips Could Helm ‘The Gambler’

Todd Phillips may be branching out soon, as word is that he's now in talks to direct a remake of 'The Gambler,' the 1974 film written by James Toback about a Harvard professor with a serious addiction to betting.

This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, and what's most fascinating about this is that the project was originally developed by Martin Scorsese, with his 'The Departed' screenwriter William Monahan adapting the film, and with Leonardo DiCaprio the likely lead.

Phillips is currently working on 'The Hangover Part III,' which has been announcing casting recently, and will begin shooting shortly. In the 1990's, Martin Scorsese was attached to direct 'Schindler's List' while Steven Spielberg was attached to doing the 'Cape Fear' remake. We doubt anything like that has happened here, though we'd definitely be amused seeing Scorsese's take on a 'Hangover' movie.

The film is set up at Paramount, who also released the original. The 1974 version starred James Caan and was directed by Karel Reisz, but Toback often receives more credit for the film as it was as much inspired by his own life as it was the short novel 'The Gambler' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Perhaps if this remake is a hit, it will inspire Phillips to adapt more Dostoyevsky. 'Notes from the Underground' or 'The Idiot' perhaps.