In an effort to fast-track its remake of the 1970s Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier comedy “Uptown Saturday Night,” Warner Bros. has hired “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” helmer Nicholas Stoller to do a rewrite on the script.
Adam McKay is on board to direct, and Warner Bros. intends to develop the film as a starring vehicle for Will Smith and Denzel Washington (pictured).
Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter are producing and have been developing the project for some time, but the producers haven’t been able to juggle the stars’ schedules and get the script to the right point.
Sources tell Variety that McKay wants this to be his next film, and Smith and Washington are committed to getting the film off the ground, with a summer shoot being eyed. Both stars must be on board with the latest draft or it’s a no-go.
Stoller hopes to a deliver a draft in the next month.
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The original film follows two friends who sneak out to visit a high-class but illegal club and trouble follows. Timothy Dowling wrote the most recent draft. Jesse Ehrman is overseeing for the studio.
The UTA-repped Stoller most recently helmed “Neighbors,” starring Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, which bows May 9, 2014.
