A remake of the buddy comedy classic Uptown Saturday Night has been in the works for years, and in various forms, without much actually happening. The 1974 movie remains influential, which is why a remake has always been able to attract big stars. Will Smith and Denzel Washington were once going to lead it, with Adam McKay directing what would’ve been an incredible pairing worthy of original stars Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. But that never worked out, and most recently it was Kevin Hart attached to star, joined by his Night School director Malcolm D. Lee. Now there’s been another shift behind the camera, and hopefully this one gets the ball rolling.
THR reports that Rick Famuyiwa will direct Uptown Saturday Night, with Hart sticking around as one of his leads. Famuyiwa, who has directed films such as Brown Sugar and The Wood, really broke out with the kinetic coming-of-age comedy Dope. He dropped out of directing The Flash for Warner Bros., but he stays with the studio for this one. He’s also one of the directors on Disney’s upcoming series, The Mandalorian.
Black-ish creator Kenya Barris wrote the latest Uptown Saturday Night script, and I’ll be interested to see if Famuyiwa takes a pass at it himself given the long development time. The film centers on two friends at an illegal night club that gets robbed, with their precious lottery ticket stolen in the process. The guys then discover that they actually hit the lotto, and now must go on a wild hunt to find those who stole the ticket.
With Famuyiwa and Hart confirmed, the hunt is on for the third piece of the puzzle. It’s a shame that Smith, who is still attached as producer, won’t do it because I think he’s got the cool demeanor that would be a nice balance to Hart’s lunacy. The dynamic could be similar to what Poitier and Cosby had back in the day, so maybe, hopefully, Smith will change his mind.
