Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop in sci-fi series Fringe) is in negotiations to join Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis in Lay the Favorite, directed by Oscar nominee Stephen Frears and with D.V. DeVincentis writing the screenplay.
The script is based on Beth Raymer's biopic Lay the Favorite – A Memoir of Gambling. In her chronicle of sports betting Raymer breaks the myth of the modern gambler. The story begins in Naked City, a smaller neighborhood in North Las Vegas where she has nothing but strength not to return to Florida, where she worked at a halfway house and moonlighted as a home stripper.
Then along comes Dink, an older man from Queens who loves baseball too much. Convicted of illegal bookmaking, he moves to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler.
He dressed like the mentally retarded adults I had met while volunteering at a group home. His Chicago Cubs T-shirt was two sizes too small for his expansive frame. Royal blue elasticized cotton shorts were pulled too high above his belly button.”
Dink offers Raymer an employment at Dink, Inc. as an apprentice handicapper, who read betting lines and place wagers. He trains her in the art of getting “the best of it,” – infinite quest for point spreads that offer the greatest value.
Jackson's role is not yet specified, but Catherine Zeta-Jones is in talks to play the wife of a weird looks gambler (Willis). Town star Hall plays Raymer who becomes involved with the gambling mentor Dink as he figures out how to gain an edge on the Vegas sports book system.
Lay the Favorite could go into production later this year.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzRTI6HV0h0[/youtube]
Beth Raymer Reads at In The Flesh in NYC, Oct 21, 2010.
