Paramount has revealed the greenband trailer for the drama The Gambler [GMBLR] starring a slimmed-down Mark Wahlberg [MWAHL]. Director Rupert Wyatt explains to Grantland how William Monahan's script differs from the 1974 original:
He was setting out this agenda that this is not about a man whose life is out of control; this is a man who’s in a prison. He exists within a gilded cage. He has all of these opportunities, he has looks, he has wealth, he has education — all of these things that have trapped him into becoming somebody he really doesn’t believe in. It’s made him miserable, and so he therefore sets out, over the course of these days, to deconstruct himself, to blow it all up and start again. That is essentially the story of an overdog wanting to become an underdog. It’s a very anti-materialistic point of view. It’s basically saying, for a man or a woman to be who they truly need to be, wealth is not necessarily material. It can and should be spiritual.
The Gambler begins in limited release on December 19th.