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In Netflix’s new basketball movie “Hustle,” Adam Sandler will be repping Philadelphia hard.
The blockbuster actor and filmmaker has been in town shooting scenes for the upcoming flick, which is produced by LeBron James and casts Sandler as a disgraced NBA scout trying to earn redemption by recruiting a player from overseas.
Is that scout supposed to be a Philly guy? No official confirmation, but signs point that direction.
Filming a scene on Market Street earlier this week with co-star and Timberwolves player Juancho Hernangomez, Sandler was spotted wearing a sweatshirt featuring what looks like a giant octopus enveloping a large ship, tentacles aflail. It’s a shout-out to “Sea Monsters HERE,” a 40-foot-tall art installation that popped up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 2018.
Turns out the Hollywood star got the locals-only gear at none other than the most credible of Philly lifestyle brands, South Fellini.
The label, which was started by Tony Trov and Johnny Zito, two Temple alum comic book creators and graphic novelists, offers a wide array of apparel online and at a brick-and-mortar shop on East Passyunk Avenue. All of the items feature Philadelphia-themed inside jokes — and the “Hustle” costume designers picked up more than one, according to the South Fellini proprietors.
“They got a lot of things at first, as options, and then came back and ordered back-ups” of a few different designs, the store owners told Billy Penn.
What should we look for adorning Sandler’s bearded bod? (“The beard looks horrible, everyone hates it,” the actor told Jimmy Kimmel recently.)
Keep your eyes peeled for the sweatshirt showing trees at FDR Park, aka “The Lakes,” and the company’s most famous design: Wawa Jawn.
“Think his character is supposed to be from South Philly,” the South Fellini guys said. “So he’s a local with good taste.”
With other local fashion potentially in the wardrobe, shooting continues on the film, which is being directed by a city native, Jeremiah Zagar, son of Magic Gardens mosaic muralist Isaiah Zagar. The movie will also reportedly include a cameo of Raptors player and Philly native Kyle Lowry.
No word yet on a “Hustle” release date.
