Emily Blunt and Chris Evans are teaming up this fall in Pain Hustlers. The wheels on this project first got moving back in August 2021 when Sony Pictures announced development on a film based on an Evan Hughes New York Times Magazine article. That article, “The Pain Hustlers,” chronicles how a health care company deescalated into a massive fraud conspiracy. Hughes would flesh out that online piece into The Hard Sell, a book released in January 2022. Four months after he published that book, Emily Blunt joined the developing feature film and Netflix swooped in to acquire the rights for about $50 million.
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Later that summer, Chris Evans joined Pain Hustlers and was accompanied by supporting stars Andy Garcia, Catherine O’Hara, Jay Duplass, Brian D’Arcy James, and Chloe Coleman. Production kicked off in August 2022 ahead of an anticipated Fall 2023 release.
Netflix Debuts First Look at Pain Hustlers
Pete Brenner and Liza Drake have arrived.
Taking to social media, Netflix has shared the first character posters for this fall’s Pain Hustlers. Chris Evans’s Pete Brenner dons a full suit with a loose tie as he holds a business card with the film’s title on it. “YOUR PAIN IS HIS PAY” reads his poster’s tagline.
Emily Blunt’s Liza Drake is more dolled up, rocking hoop earrings and a necklace with Pain Hustlers in the middle. “SHE DEALS YOUR PAIN” reads her poster’s tagline.
“I feel strongly that most female characters in Hollywood are usually held up to some sort of feminine ideal,” Blunt said of her Pain Hustlers character. “I’m always hearing this like, ‘Is she likable?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t give a f–k if she’s likable,’ you know? No man has ever asked that. Like, those guys in The Big Short or Wolf of Wall Street, we were never concerned if they were likable and they were doing terrible, corrupt things.”
Beyond the character posters, Netflix released a batch of still images from the film. Catherine O’Hara, Andy Garcia and Amit Shah’s characters can be seen in the first look pictures.
After it holds its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, Pain Hustlers will get a limited theatrical release on October 20th. This follows a pattern set by Netflix last fall when it gave Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery a brief run at the cinemas before it went to the streaming service.
Pain Hustlers premieres next Monday, September 11th at Toronto International Film Festival and will hit Netflix on October 27th.
