We first wrote about the planned remake of the classic urban comedy,
Uptown Saturday Night, back in March of last year. The truth is that the project has been in the works much longer than that. Like for more than a decade. Will Smith has been attached for most of that time, and even though David Dobkin was in line to direct, it never seemed to go anywhere. That is until last year when Timothy Dowling(
Role Models) came in to pen the script, and Denzel Washington took over the co-lead role opposite Smith. Will Smith and Denzel Washington together in a remake of a true comedy classic? How awesome is that?
Well it gets better, as Deadline reports that Adam McKay(Anchorman) has taken over as director. McKay, who is currently piecing together Anchorman 2 for his buddy, Will Ferrell, gives this film a serious boost of credibility, and probably star power as well. McKay has been known to corral his celebrity buddies for cameos, and considering the wealth of characters in the film, we're almost guaranteed to see it happen again. The crazy1974 film was directed by and starred Sidney Poitier, who along with his buddy played by Bill Cosby, try to track down the goons who robbed them and stole a winning lottery ticket. Harry Belafonte, Richard Pryor, and Flip Wilson helped fill out a robust cast.
Don't look for this to happen any time soon as McKay, Washington, and Smith have a lot of stuff on their schedules. Maybe in 2014?
