Paul Walter Hauser to star in "Press Your Luck" movie

[BrandonFG]

I honestly wasn't trying to be condescending, so if that is your interpretation I sincerely apologize. My point is that people try to find things to nitpick instead of just enjoying the movie, and I just don't want us to all go down that rabbit hole.

[Nick]

I honestly wasn't trying to be condescending, so if that is your interpretation I sincerely apologize. My point is that people try to find things to nitpick instead of just enjoying the movie, and I just don't want us to all go down that rabbit hole.

Fair enough.  Apology accepted, and I agree about avoiding the rabbit hole.  Given that a single still is the only visual we have of this so far, I was merely noting a detail I saw.

While I'm not placing my hopes too high for accuracy to the true story, it's intriguing that, after all the years since the idea of this film was floated, it has moved all the way to post-production (as of this writing, anyway).  I'm interested in seeing the final product.

[snowpeck]

My whole takeaway here is that this thing got all the way to post-production with nary a peep anywhere about it. That doesn't seem to happen much in this day and age.

[tyshaun1]

My whole takeaway here is that this thing got all the way to post-production with nary a peep anywhere about it. That doesn't seem to happen much in this day and age.

Randy West did mention awhile back that the late Byl Carruthers was working with producers on the Larson story, but yeah, pretty surprising that nothing came out until today, especially since it hasn't found an official distributor.

[BrandonFG]

Just looked up the original proposed version with Bill Murray. I have no concept of time anymore, but I didn't realize that was almost 24 years ago.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=116245&page=1

[Neumms]

I’m tickled David Strathairn is in it. So good in Good Night and Good Luck and Eight Men Out. I hoped he’d play Peter, then discovered he’s in his 70s. (Yikes.)

[trainman]

As I said on someone's Facebook post, looking at the cast list, the name that jumped out at me as a possible Tomarken was James Wolk (probably most famous as Bob Benson on "Mad Men"). Johnny Knoxville seems more like he would play Michael Larson's (fictional) best friend who helps him figure out the board pattern and is then sitting in the audience during the show -- something like that.

[bulldog_06]

This PYL movie has a story here. Considering that this movie will be a drama will be interesting. It has the marks for it. I saw Buzzerblog make a post saying that they don't see how a guy sitting in front of a button getting to $100k isn't interesting. I would love to see how it got there in visualized form. How Larson got real crazy with the idea of going on the show, learning the patterns, how Bobby Edwards didn't trust him, how Bill Caruthers and CBS execs were nervous at how much money he won...plus the idea of him being a "cheater," the stamina that he had during the game when he began to wear down, and the aftermath of how he blew all of his winnings. Crazy as kept, and I'll be crazy here...this could be an Oscar-nominated film.

[SamJ93]

Larson, to me, has always been a character type similar to that of Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul--a guy with some redeeming qualities, but who's been taught all the wrong lessons in life and works incredibly hard at all the wrong things. That sort of anti-hero can be compelling in the right storytelling hands, and I'll be interested to see how they pull it off here.

Ed and Jamie, Larson's opponents, are still alive AFAIK; it would be a neat little nod if they gave them non-speaking cameos at some point.

[tyshaun1]

As I said on someone's Facebook post, looking at the cast list, the name that jumped out at me as a possible Tomarken was James Wolk (probably most famous as Bob Benson on "Mad Men"). Johnny Knoxville seems more like he would play Michael Larson's (fictional) best friend who helps him figure out the board pattern and is then sitting in the audience during the show -- something like that.

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

[SuperMatch93]

Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

So that's interesting; I had read before that the burglary at his house involved $50,000 worth of one-dollar bills. If they split it down the middle, the amount he lost totals basically all of his PYL cash.

[Nick]

Ed and Jamie, Larson's opponents, are still alive AFAIK; it would be a neat little nod if they gave them non-speaking cameos at some point.

Why can't they have a line?

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

This is the story that Randy West tells.  My question is what is the source of that information?  Because that's a pretty big piece of the story that I don't remember being mentioned in Big Bucks or anywhere else.

[tyshaun1]

Ed and Jamie, Larson's opponents, are still alive AFAIK; it would be a neat little nod if they gave them non-speaking cameos at some point.

Why can't they have a line?

Larson DID have a benefactor who financed him getting out to LA so he could audition and later flew out with him to watch him do his thing. If you rewatch the episodes, you will observe him looking back to his left several times, presumably looking for advice on when to stop. Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

This is the story that Randy West tells.  My question is what is the source of that information?  Because that's a pretty big piece of the story that I don't remember being mentioned in Big Bucks or anywhere else.

That came from Byl Carruthers on one of Randy's old posts.

[Kevin Prather]

Apparently the cash that was won was split between them for his efforts.

So that's interesting; I had read before that the burglary at his house involved $50,000 worth of one-dollar bills. If they split it down the middle, the amount he lost totals basically all of his PYL cash.

Something about that math doesn't math, because I thought part of the story was a real estate investment that went bad as well.

[steveleb]

The parallels with Quiz Show may be the best angle to take. The film was released nearly 36 years after the episodes aired.  Redford remembered it well and likely saw the PBS documentary that sparked the idea.  I assume folks associated with this film saw the GSN piece at some point.

You do know filmmakers have the right to take creative liberties, right?  Especially since the only possible way they can come close to making money is to attract people beyond the readers of this website.

Do remember that every single one of you who offers any complaints or gripes about trivial matters, or even the truth, is yelling at clouds and it’s not like if you even boycotted viewing it anyone would miss you.  Indeed, I strongly suspect most of you will still watch one way or the other, whether in a theatre or when it’s sold to a streaming service

Honestly, folks, try to realize that those that actually have made a career in creative pursuits have to reach more than just the Uber core.