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Copyright 2005 Business Wire
July 20, 2005 01:22 PM US Eastern Timezone
Headline: Poker Stars Soon to Be on Big Screen
as Well as Small: 'Lucky You' to Showcase Game's Top Players in
Featured Roles
Body:
Hot on the heels of the largest and richest World Series of Poker
in history, poker fans will soon see their favorite poker stars
on the big screen as well, in what will be the first film set
in the exploding world of professional poker. In Spring 2006,
poker fans will be able to see more than two dozen of their favorite
poker icons sharing the screen with these Hollywood stars -- Eric
Bana ("Troy"), Drew Barrymore ("Charlie's Angels")
and Robert Duvall ("The Godfather").
Playing themselves or fictional counterparts in "Lucky You"
-- the first Hollywood film to capture the excitement and drama
of the worldwide poker phenomenon -- are Jack Binion, Doyle Brunson,
Johnny Chan, Hoyt Corkins, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam
Farha, Maureen Feduniak, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth,
Chau Giang, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Dan Harrington,
John Hennigan, Karina Jett, John Juanda, Jason Lester, Erick Lindgren,
Minh Ly, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, David Oppenheim, Max Pescatori,
Matt Savage, Erik Seidel, Huck Seed, Mimi Tran, Cyndy Violette,
Marsha Waggoner and Robert Williamson III. Brunson, Lester and
Savage also served as consultants on the film.
Directed by Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential,"
"Wonder Boys," "8 Mile") and based on an original
screenplay by Academy Award winner Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump,"
"The Insider"), "Lucky You" explores the story
of a professional poker player (Bana) who gets a lesson
in life from a struggling singer (Barrymore) as he collides with
his estranged father (Duvall) in the world of high stakes poker
in Las Vegas.
"With millions of people watching poker weekly on television,
it was important to capture the authenticity of the game and its
players," said Hanson. "To that end, the poker tables
in 'Lucky You' are primarily populated by poker
players, not actors pretending to be poker players. Our stars
trained for months in order to convincingly play side by side
with top poker professionals cast in fictional roles."
The filmmakers shot for seven weeks in Las Vegas this past spring.
The casinos featured in the film include the Bellagio, Binions
and the Aladdin. Upon their return to Los Angeles, shooting continued
on Hollywood sound stages that housed perfect replicas of Benny's
Bullpen at Binion's (where the WSOP was played until 2004) and
the Bellagio poker room
(circa 2003).
After arriving at the Bellagio set, Daniel Negreanu exclaimed:
"It blew me away. It was very strange and surreal. It's like
this is the exact Bellagio poker room." The scenes depicted
at the Bellagio poker room included Bana and Duvall participating
in the "Big Game" with such players as Sam Farha, Barry
Greenstein, Chau Giang, Minh Ly, Ted Forrest and Erick Lindgren.
"One of the things that made it totally realistic,"
notes Negreanu, "is the fact that it's a lot of the real
pros that actually play
in that game."
Among the many other poker scenes in the film are some extended
sequences that take place at a fictional World Series of Poker
(circa 2003) and feature a myriad of recognizable pros. Jason
Lester, who finished fourth in the final event at the World Series
of Poker in 2003, served as an on-set consultant for the film's
depiction of the WSOP. According to Lester: "This movie is
getting it right. I can't recall any movie ever really showing
high stakes gambling in such an authentic manner. Having real
poker players makes it more realistic and that's so important
for any kind of gambling movie."
Similarly, Erick Lindgren described the Benny's Bullpen set as
"Unbelievable! I just feel like this movie is going be great
because I see how authentic everything is."
"Lucky You" is a Deuce Three/DiNovi Pictures Production.
The producers are Denise DiNovi, Carol Fenelon and Curtis Hanson.
The executive producers are Bruce Berman and John Kirby. The film
will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner
Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village
Roadshow Pictures.
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