Lay the Favorite (promoted as Lay the Favourite in the UK) is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by D.V. DeVincentis, and stars Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Joshua Jackson. Based on Beth Raymer's 2010 memoir of the same name, the film follows a young, free-spirited woman as she journeys through the legal and illegal world of sports gambling. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on January 21 and was released on December 7 by The Weinstein Company through its RADiUS-TWC distribution arm. Lay the Favorite garnered negative reviews from critics, praising the performances of Willis and Hall but felt there was unexplored development in the characters and the gambling world. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $1.5 mil