Kevin Hart is currently in talks to star in a remake of the 1974 Sidney Poitier/Bill Cosby comedy Uptown Saturday Night. It'll come from Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment, run by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and James Lassiter.
Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is now on scripting duties; earlier drafts were done by Allan Loeb (Smith's Collateral Beauty) and Nicholas Stoller (The Carmichael Show, the recent Muppets). Sources tell Variety they're close to finding a new director (Adam McKay was hired in 2012), and will then move on to casting Hart's co-star.
The remake has been coming together for going on two decades, with Smith purchasing the rights in 2002; he and Denzel Washington were both eyed as stars along the way. It seems Hart will take them closer to making it a reality. The original followed Cosby and Poitier's characters as they sneak into a high-class, illegal club where a series of chaotic antics ensue.
Hart is a smart choice for the studio, as his latest blockbuster, Jumanji, made $962 million worldwide, and his September release Night School, co-starring Tiffany Haddish, is sure to do big numbers as well.
