1970s Bill Cosby / Richard Pryor comedy team-up **Uptown Saturday Night **has been the target of the remake patrol for years now and specifically by Will Smith, who has owned the rights since 2002 and wants to star in a new version alongside Denzel Washington. Anchorman**’s Adam McKay is aboard to direct and Warner Bros. has hired The Five-Year Engagement’s Nicholas Stoller to re-write the script.
**Uptown Saturday Night **found Cosby and Pryor as two former best friends who meet up and make up at a trendy illegal nightclub. Trouble is, while they’re enjoying a night on the town, their wallets are pinched, and one contained, they soon learn, a winning lottery ticket. The mad dash begins to get it back…
Smith and Warners have already had one pass on the script from Tim Dowling, but all involved are hoping that Stoller crafts something that gets the thumbs up and, more importantly, the green light. McKay is apparently itching to make the film now he’s finished his second run-around with Ron Burgundy and co, and it’s been a complicated matter of trying to get Smith and Washington’s busy schedules to sync up.
From the looks of it, everything could fall into place this coming summer, but the script remains a vital element, so Stoller is already hard at work (in between, we assume, tweaking the edit of his own latest directorial effort, **Bad **Neighbours).