It’s been more than a year since we’ve heard anything about Will Smith and Warner Bros.’ attempts to get the remake of 1974 buddy comedy Uptown Saturday Night up and running. Now, though, there’s some positive news for all involved with Deadline reporting that Anchorman’s Adam McKay is in negotiations to direct.
Uptown originally starred Bill Cosby (sporting huge facial hair) and Sidney Poitier as estranged friends who meet up again at an illegal night club, only to get their wallets pinched. Then they discover that one of the wallets contained what is now a winning lottery ticket, which inspires them to go to any lengths to retrieve it…
Smith and his Overbrook company have owned the rights to this one since 2002, and the most recent draft was scribbled by This Means War’s Tim Dowling, with Smith and the team still hoping that Denzel Washington will snag one of the lead roles alongside the former Fresh Prince himself.
But before he can even think about anything to do with Uptown, McKay has a much more important mission, which is to keep writing Anchorman 2 ready to shoot it early next year. Incidentally, he talks about that very subject in the latest issue of the magazine…