The rumors have started back up again about the Uptown Saturday Night film supposedly starring Denzel Washington and Will Smith. According to news reports from Deadline, it seems that the project has finally landed a director and developer with Adam McKay attached. You should know that this film has been in development for YEARS as both stars have tried to move the project along. It always seemed to fall apart because of conflicting schedules or other smaller issues but as of this writing, it seems that its back on track again.
Check out the article from Deadline;
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 the film after he completes a sequel to Anchorman, the Will Ferrell-starrer that 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 Henry Belafonte, Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor, and the remake could follow suit.
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