Paramount to Remake ‘The Gambler’ with Wahlberg, Lange and Lawson

The poster that is original ‘The Gambler’ starring James Caan and Lauren Hutton; Mark Wahlberg will be playing this part in the remake.
Modern audiences often capture the classics of literature via their film versions; take Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’ or Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’. Mention Fyodor Dostoevsky to a more youthful generation of Internet-raised intelligentsia, and you may get nothing however a blank stare; and the 1974 movie version, loosely based on the prolific journalist’s novella, may not resonate much more either. But that movie’s initial cult success has now spurred movie giant Paramount Pictures to attempt a remake of this classic movie (which in addition is not related in almost any solution to the Kenny Rogers classic country song of the identical title) with an all-star cast that can hold unique against the initial.
A Lot to Real Time Up To
The remake has some iconic shows to match up to, that’s for certain; not to mention quite a bit of Hollywood lore that went on during the original production’s recording. For instance, a then-very-young James Caan (who from 2003-2007 played the casino magnate lead in the hit TV series ‘Las Las vegas’), was reportedly grappling with his own real-life cocaine addiction during filming; he was also selected for a Golden Globe for his role as Axel Freed, an English professor in new york whose gambling addiction overtakes their life. In a type of art-imitates-life-imitates-art affect, in the film, Freed is teaching his students Dostoevsky, but in his life that is personal massive gambling addiction has, unsurprisingly, left him saddled with debt; become specific, $44,000 owed to his bookie Hips that he cannot come up with on his or her own.
Freed gets your debt paid by his own mother, and heads off with his girlfriend Billie (played within the original film by gap-toothed model Lauren Hutton) to Sin City, where he brings an Archie Karas-style rise and fall of gambling fortunes move. Billie has to bear the brunt of his wrath at losing his amassed fortune again, when she expresses her displeasure at loan sharks turning up at all hours of the night and day to collect their due. And even though Axel believes his own grandfather will pull him away from hot water this time, he could be sadly disappointed once the man will not have anything to do with him.
Debt Repayment Arrange
Up against a wall surface with not a way to pay back his debts and bookies hounding him, Axel recruits one of his students who is a black colored basketball star to take a bribe in one of his bookies to shave points in an upcoming game. When that stunt is pulled off, Axel goes confidently in to the ghetto together with student friend, ignoring warnings from their main bookie that it is an area that is dangerous.
Of course, he eventually ends up fighting a pimp as he refuses to pay a hooker, and Axel gets the very best of that match, only to be slashed throughout the face by the prostitute that is unhappy. In the scene that is final he stares at his bloody face in a mirror, and smiles just as if knowing that this is when life has brought him.
The version that is original Paul Sorvino as Hips, Caan’s ingratiating bookie, among an all-star cast that included a young James Woods; while the remake promises no less in its recasting of this classic. Mark Wahlberg is taking on the part of Axel Freed, with an aging Jessica Lange most commonly download free indian dreaming pokie game known to current audiences for her starring role in United states Horror Story on TV as Axel’s wealthy and over-the-top mother. Brie Larson is apparently cast in the Lauren Hutton/girlfriend role of Billie this go-round.
No word yet on when manufacturing will start, or when the remake is expected to hit theaters.
New Players in American Gaming Association Set to Lobby Congress Hard
Getting ready for a lobbying that is major in Congress, the United states Gaming Association has brought five brand new seasoned veterans on board (Image: AFP/Robert Sullivan)
It’s a new 12 months, and also the winds of change continue to blow, in Washington, D.C. especially. And the casino industry’s most prominent trade association which is really a low-key means of saying ‘lobbying group’ is arming for battle, it seems, by bringing in some new senior staff to make their case to lawmakers, a case that features continuing to hound Congress for federal oversight of online gaming.
Not that Congress happens to be particularly receptive to that bid yet, but wish springs eternal.
Ready for Battle
The American Gaming Association (AGA) announced the brand new staff members early this week, noting that their primary functions will be to amp the group up’s marketing efforts and also to clarify their policy functions. That should be fun, taking into consideration the AGA’s very own account is at major odds as far as what that policy should be; while most members heartily endorse or at least are taking an approach that is wait-and-see online gaming and its legalization, one prominent and long-time user Las vegas, nevada Sands Corporation’s Sheldon Adelson stays vehemently opposed, and it is investing millions of his own bankroll into anti-Internet gambling campaigns and their own military of lobbyists to promote that agenda.
Nonetheless, AGA president Geoff Freeman whom to date has pretty diplomatically skirted the interior wars among their casino industry constituents issued a generically worded statement regarding the hirings that hinted at a strongly pro-internet lobbying agenda.
‘Through groundbreaking research, aggressive outreach and on-the-ground activities, this team of professionals will position the AGA to champion gaming’s value as being a motorist of innovation and growth that is economic’ Freeman’s media quote reads. It’s possible to only assume that ‘innovation and growth that is economic refer mainly to your expansion of legalized online poker and gambling throughout the United States; as everyone surely knows by now, Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey are already ready to go, and California is searching like it could be next.
In the event that Golden State does legalize at least internet poker, it will be a game-changer, offered their 38-million-ish population that is in-state which dwarfs next-largest currently online, nj-new Jersey, by almost 29 million prospective players.
Bringing Plenty of Ammo to the battle
Freeman claims the newest hires all have gaming industry backgrounds, as well as experience in both the sector that is private with other trade associations. Interpretation: they know how to schmooze, no matter the setting or agenda. After all, that is basically what lobbyists do, besides delivering implied promises of financial support to those that promise to back their organizations’ agendas.
The group that is new pretty impressive resumes: i.e., connections garnered over many years of previous schmoozing. They incorporate a former vice president of public affairs, Sara Rayme, who helped push through MGM Resorts’ move into the Maryland land casino market; a former vice president of government relations, Chaka Burgess, who brings 20 years of coalition building, lobbying and ally development experience with him: that ability should really be tested utilizing the AGA’s factional membership base. Burgess previously worked with Amgen, Inc. a biotech manufacturing firm as a director inside their global government affairs division.
Then there’s a previous senior director of communications for the U.S. Travel Association (Freeman’s previous workplace before joining AGA in 2013), Allie Barth; International Game Technology (IGT) former director of gaming policy Elizabeth Cronan, last but not least a brand new basic counsel, Virginia Hurt Johnson, whom is available in with three decades of private and sector background that is public.
Freeman himself has only seven months aided by the group under his belt; he took over from the lobbying organization’s first and only CEO that is previous and Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr. when the latter retired in June 2013.
The new hires reflect a momentum that is renewed the AGA: industry leaders Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Frank Fertitta III of Stations Casinos, in addition to Kentucky’s Churchill Downs racetrack and casino, all recently finalized up as well. Wynn and Fertitta will be on the AGA’s Board of Directors to boot.
CoinYe West Enters Cryptocurrency Market with New Brand of Coins
There’s gold it launches January 11 in them thar hills or at least, a new line of cryptocurrency called CoinYe West hopes there is when.
Branding your name onto an endless selection of services and products is absolutely nothing new for major celebrities, but some new currency that is digital have certainly pressed the envelope this time. Must be new knockoff of Bitcoins that is set to launch on January 11 with the cringe-worthy name of CoinYe western hasn’t also received Kanye West’s papal blessing for the use words.
CoinYe Oh CoinYe
Obviously, Kanye is not the mastermind behind the technology here either, and no one is revealing who is. But in an interview that is recent Vice.com an online pub that encompasses all thinks hipster artsy-fartsy the secretive creators said that ‘Coinye West is really a cryptocurrency for the masses. Bitcoin is for hardcore money-hoarders, and Dogecoin was more for the Internet-meme crowds … Coinye West to our goal is to make it easier for people to use cryptocurrency.’
Just in case you’ve been living in a cave and are nevertheless new to cryptocurrencies, they are essentially decentralized, unregulated, difficult-to-trace monetary systems whose values are based solely on peer-to-peer market perceptions. These currencies’ appeal has been the privacy that accompanies their usage; and as they may involve some genuine online locations, they have become infamous as the sole transaction currency for sites like Silk path a site that specializes in all things nefarious and illegal, from drugs to tools to illegal services for hire. Although shut down and seized a few months right back by the Feds, Silk Road quickly reemerged ‘under new management,’ and was back to business as usual, apparently with tighter encryptions and more secrecy than ever.
Because of their perception-only-based values, there have already been wild swings for other existing cryptocurrencies; especially the market frontrunner Bitcoins, which has seen values veer from as low as $60 spring that is last over $1,000 in November, so when with this writing, rests at about US$953 but which could change at any 2nd.
A present pronouncement from the Chinese government that their banks would no longer be allowed to carry down deals with the digital currency saw U.S. exchange prices drop into the $600s, only to mysteriously bounce back up again maybe not long after.
Plenty of Competition
There now be seemingly somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 Bitcoin knockoffs, so CoinYe would hardly be Bitcoins’ first competitor, if it requires down. Brands with names like Peercoin, Namecoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Ripple all want to drive the gravy that is digital, which for Bitcoin has turned into largely based on sales of the gear used to ‘mine’ the currency an ironic nod to the original silver miners in Ca, where those who sold miners’ supplies typically made the fortunes that eluded all of the miners themselves.
