Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip) is in talks to direct the Uptown Saturday Night remake for Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment starring Kevin Hart (Night School, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Variety has confirmed.
The remake will be written by Kenya Barris (Black-ish) who is working on the most recent draft of the screenplay. A remake of the 1974 comedy of the same name has been planned for some time, with Will Smith and Denzel Washington originally in talks to star with Adam McKay set to direct. While Smith’s schedule doesn’t allow for him to lead the film onscreen, he will still be producing the feature with his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter. Hart and John Cheng will produce as well through their HartBeat company.
The original film, directed by Sidney Poitier, starred Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte as a pair of friends who, after getting robbed, learn that they’ve won the lottery and set out to track down the thieves and the wallet with the winning ticket inside.
Uptown Saturday Night will serve as a quick reunion between Hart and Lee who recently collaborated on Night School, premiering in theaters on September 28, 2018. Lee’s other credits include last year’s summer hit Girls Trip, Barbershop: The Next Cut, The Best Man Holiday, and Undercover Brother.
