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EXCLUSIVE: Adam McKay is in negotiations to develop to direct Uptown Saturday Night, the Warner Bros remake that the studio hopes will star Will Smith and Denzel Washington. Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment has been developing the project. Tim Dowling wrote the most recent draft.
The idea is for McKay to helm after he completes a sequel to Anchorman, the Will Ferrell-starrer Paramount has set for an early 2013 start and 2014 release. McKay and Ferrell wrote that script and Judd Apatow is producing. McKay most recently helmed The Other Guys, and before that Talladega Nights. He’s repped by WME.
The 1974 comedy starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier as pals who visit an illegal nightclub, and are forced to hand over their wallets to thieves. Turns out one of them contains a winning lottery ticket, emboldening the duo to bump up against the criminal element to get back the wallet. There are plenty of remakes that elicit groans. If this package comes together (Smith and Washington have long wanted to work together), with McKay’s comic sensibility, this redo could be exceptional. The original cast was lined with the likes of Harry Belafonte, Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor, and the remake could follow suit by star-casting the supporting roles.
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You put Denzel and Will in a movie together, and you’re going to have gold. Solid gold.
I’m sure some people will have negative things to say about a white guy directing this remake, but honestly I can’t think of a better comedy director to take the reins!
Why would this be any different than any other Will S. film? Glad this is getting made, but sad that it is yet another Overbrook project to not employ a black director or screenwriter. Par for the course with them.
You’ll be interested to know that once Black actors become crossover stars, they are no longer considered black and have no allegiance to their people.
Notwithstanding this, Denzel has worked with three black directors. Will, the traditionalist, has worked with none.
@Gerald I don’t know who you are referring to besides Will Smith. What black actors besides Will Smith, Denzel and Jamie Foxx have crossed over on a large enough scale to really have any sort of input in choice of directors? You’re right about Will as far as I know but I think that has more to do with him sticking to Blockbuster fare. I know F. Gary Gray directed Foxx in Law Abiding Citizen, and as you mentioned Denzel has shown no problem working with multiple black directors.
It’s a double edged sword. If they get behind a black director and really push for them to direct a blockbuster, if it were to fail that would unfortunately dry up those kinds of opportunities for other black directors
Plus, to be honest that’s a ridiculous pressure to say that just because you have crossed over you are now expected to maintain some kind of allegiance to directors of your background. On top of that, it was white directors that gave Smith his break into film: Where the Day Takes You, Six Degrees of Separation, Made in America, Bad Boys, Independence Day. All white directors.
I get it.
1. Because there’s a possibility that a black director may fail, then
2. They should never be employed because
3. They might fail; and
4. Ruin the chances that they might be hired.
Your statement shows just how subtle the bias is in this business. Will Smith owes his career to the black audience who discovered him as a rapper then made him a star on Tv. As soon as he got a film career, he stopped associating with black professionals. The only reason he’s even doing this movie is his career has hit a bump so he’s come back to the black well
Gerald, you are such a racially paranoid moron. I’m African-American, (mixed mind you) and no believes your idiotic claim that Will Smith doesn’t like to work with black directors. That’s complete BS. He doesn’t care what race his directors are, whether they’re black or not. How would you know he shows bias? Just because he doesn’t work with black directors doesn’t mean he’s some self-hating bigot. If anything, it sounds like you’re desperate for attention. That being said, go away.
Will Smith’s film career was built by white directors so I don’t see him not working with black directors as some type of slight. He’s busy proving that a black actor can bring in international box office.
When do the black director’s get to remake the “white” classics? Or direct a film about the holocaust? Are white directors the only group that can successfully realize a vision of another ethnic group’s story?
So Yes — it’s a bit off-putting.
Let’s hope A Piece of the Action is next!
2nd!!!!!!
Kevin Hart could play the Jimmy Walker part, Bootney Farnsworth!
Here’s yet another case of people who are to chicken livered to give a shot to a new or different idea, so they fall back on yet another remake. BORING!!!!!
I have loooong wanted to see Denzel in a comedy (I don’t count Much Ado about Nothing). Fantastic News.
2 words: Carbon Copy!
I hope my favorite teacher at NYU, Richard Wesley, gets paid something for the remake– He wrote the original.
Is Tyler Perry secretly associated with this?
Why would you ask that? Just curious.
For some reason, I get the disturbing image of George Lopez being in this remake.
Let’s NOT – “A Piece Of The Action” was the weakest of the three originals, and I’m lukewarm at best to this idea. Denzel & Will, OK, but shouldn’t there be some original fare for them to be attached to?
Agreed. ENOUGH WITH THE REMAKES!!! Will Smith and Denzel Washington deserve better than a remake.
Uptown Saturday Night is *awesome*!!! This is fantastic news!
Ugh I just can’t see this classic being updated to the current crackbaby/hip-hop era. Outside of Will and Denzel joining forces this sounds dreadful.
Don’t worry, sharp-eye. All regular people behind the camera. Should be a safe bet. Will knows what he’s doing.
I could not agree more.
One of the few remake ideas that I love. The original was fun and this will be too.
My studio never does remakes we do reimaginations and reboots. We revisit old pictures and reinvent them. We revive them and we reimagine them. We do not remake them. The reason for this is so we don’t have to pay the original players from long ago any money for “sequels or remakes” but don’t tell anyone the guilds won’t like this.
In this business I’ve learned that black entertainers like Will Smith have no interest in helping other black filmmakers, while whites gladly do it all the time. You can’t tell me that between Denzel and Will, they couldn’t find one black writer or director up to this job. Thankfully they weren’t involved with hiring for the original.
Your argument would hold more water if McKay wasn’t such a damn good comedy director. Tim story may have gotten a crack if Think Like a Man was released a few months ago.
I’d be very surprised if this is a bad movie.
Will Smith and Denzel in the same movie? Get Jay Pharaoh in that somehow and you have my $12 bucks.
I personally would like to see a tyler perry cameo with his character Joe from the madea franchise.
After seeing this movie a couple times I think Simth and Washington are perfect. as for the other stars as in comedians I think Eddie Murphy, Mike Epps and maybe Kevin Hart could fit.
Who cares… Black, White, blah blah blah…. Is it funny? Ok, I’m in!
This a great idea I have been waiting for years for this to happen. To make this work you must get “everybody” (ex. Queen Latifah, Eddie, Martin, Spike Lee, Jill Scott, Steve Harvey and more to do a cameo) I would love to be in it also.
This is one of the worst ideas, and I’ve been dreading it ever since that peanut head Will Smith purchased the rights to the movie.
Will Smith is no comparison to the natural comedic talent of Bill Cosby, and, in my opinion, is not funny in the least. His comedy is over the top and stupid, but appeals to a lot of white people who think they actually understand black humor.
In short, the man sucks!
Never was funny. Never will be funny.
As much as I respect Denzel and his acting ability, he is also no Sidney Poitier.
Couple that with the original cast of seasoned actors and actresses who came up in a time when humor didn’t have to contain profanity or sexual innuendos, I can only imagine the entire atmospheric shift the movie will have to undergo in order to catch the attention of today’s plastic Yaz generation who came up on second rate comedians and no talent slobs who make millions solely by image.
Leave genius where it belongs!