2019’s summer movie season got a bit of an early start with the April 26th debut of Avengers: Endgame. And, as one might expect, no studio dared to debut one of their movies on the same weekend. However, counterprogramming did get released the next two weeks. The only one of them that was something with a substantial budget and a hefty marketing push was Pokémon: Detective Pikachu on May 10th. For instance, the weekend after Endgame, we saw the debut of The Intruder, Long Shot, and UglyDolls, all of which have been mostly forgotten (though Long Shot is actually quite good).
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And, until now, it seemed as though that was the case for The Hustle, Chris Addison’s remake of the 1988 comedy classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson replacing Steve Martin and Michael Caine. But now it has found its audience, as it is a trending film on Netflix (you can also see quite a few clips from the movie attracting viewers on Instagram). Just how well is The Hustle doing? Let’s get to the numbers.
What Is The Hustle About?
In The Hustle, Wilson plays Penny Rust, an Australian con artist who specializes in catfishing wealthy older men. Hathaway plays Josephine Chesterfield, a more experience con artist who, after some combativeness, is approached by Penny to serve as her mentor.
Together, they plan to scam billionaire Thomas Westerburg, but a wrench is thrown in the plan when Josephine falls herself falling for the mark. But perhaps this scam isn’t what it appears to be. It could very well be that the architect for all of this is unidentified…but close by.
Even with a glossy look and Hathaway on the cast list, The Hustle was produced on a modest $21 million dollar budget. But even still it didn’t attract much attention in the United States, where it only made $35.4 million. Overseas, however, it did fairly well, adding almost $62 million for a worldwide total of $97.4 million.
It also wasn’t particularly well liked by critics, holding just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes with 171 reviews in. It did better with general audiences to the tune of 44% on the Popcornmeter, but that still isn’t glowing. Even still, it’s a fine Saturday afternoon breezy comedy, and Hathaway and Wilson have some decent chemistry you wouldn’t mind seeing flourish in a better movie.
On the global Netflix Top 10 chart for 12/8 to 12/14/2025, The Hustle was positioned at number seven. That put it above The Croods: A New Age, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and the timely A Merry Little Ex-Mas. As for what it’s behind, that would be the excellent third chapter of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out saga, Wake Up Dead Man. It also ranked behind My Secret Santa, Jay Kelly, KPop Demon Hunters, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and another remake: 2018’s Death Wish.
Are you going to give The Hustle a shot on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.
