Adam McKay To Direct Remake of UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT; Will Smith and Denzel Washington To Star?

I won't pretend to have ever heard of Uptown Saturday Night until right now, but the 1974 film starring Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier is the latest film to fall prey to Hollywood's remake cycle. But perhaps this isn't a bad thing.

Deadline has the news, and they report that Anchorman director Adam McKay is signed on to sit in the director's chair for this version of the story. That's a big plus in my book, and the casting they're looking at would be two more huge marks in the positive column for this film: Warner Bros. is hoping to lock down Will Smith and Denzel Washington to star together. Talk about dream casting - pretty much everyone in America will go see this movie if those two are in it, regardless of the plot.

Speaking of plot, though, the original "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." Sounds like a ton of potential for some great comedy in there. Smith, as everyone who grew up in the 90s can attest, is already pretty familiar with comedy from his rap and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days, not to mention a ton of action comedies over the past twenty years. But the biggest selling point for me is the opportunity to see Washington - someone who has played it straight and serious in most of his films - cracking jokes in a high-profile comedy, something we haven't seen from him before.

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for three A-listers to work together and maybe call some attention back to the original film while they're at it. I just added it to my Netflix queue. Have you seen the original movie, and are you excited about the possibility of Smith and Washington working together in a comedy?