Fishburne can count

Laurence “Stop Friggin’ Calling Me Larry” Fishburne knows when to double-down, and he knows how to spot a cheat. He’ll star in the Vegas thriller 21, based on Ben Mezrich’s bestselling account “Bringing Down the House”.

Based on a true story, the movie follows several MIT students who developed an intricate card-counting system to beat house odds at blackjack and rake in millions at Vegas casinos for their brainy efforts. Fishburne will play a security chief trying to bust the crew of scholarly swindlers. The film also stars Masi Oka, the Japanese time/space bender of TV’s hit HEROES, along with Liza Lapira, Jim Sturgess and Josh Gad. Kevin Spacey is producing, and will also likely portray an MIT professor in the movie.

A movie based on Mezrich’s fascinating book has been in the works for a while now (it’s already become a History Channel documentary called BREAKING VEGAS — Netflix it!). Brett Ratner was attached some time before X-MEN 3, but now LEGALLY BLONDE director Robert Luketic will deal the cards.