Billiards was revived by two electrifying events, one in 1961, the other in 1986.

The first was the release of the movie, The Hustler, based on a novel by Walter Tevis. The black-and-white film depicted the dark life of a Pool hustler with Paul Newman in the title role. The sound of clicking balls sent America into a billiard frenzy. New rooms opened all over the country and for the remainder of the 60's Pool flourished until social concerns, the Vietnam War, and a desire for outdoor co-educational activities led to a decline in billiard interest. By 1985, there were only two public rooms left in Manhattan, down from several thousand during the 1930's.

In 1986, The Color of Money, a sequel to The Hustler with Paul Newman in the same role and Tom Cruise as an up-and-coming professional, brought the excitement of Pool to a new generation. The result was the opening of "upscale" rooms catering to people whose senses would have been offended by the old rooms if they had ever seen them. This trend began slowly in 1987 and has since surged, even resulting in a public stock offering in 1991 by Jillian's, a Boston-based room chain.