PHOEBE GALLAGHER
“Anchorman” and “Step Brothers” director Adam McKay is in talks to direct a remake of the classic Bill Cosby/Sidney Poiter comedy “Uptown Saturday Night”.
The remake would star, of course, Will Smith and Denzel Washington.
Deadline says Smith and Washington’s ultimate commitment depends on how well they respond to McKay’s draft of the script.
The original 1974 film told of two pals who try to retrieve a stolen winning lottery ticket.
“Steve Jackson (Sir Sidney Poitier), a blue-collar worker at a steel mill, has just begun a two-weeks-long vacation. He is convinced by his friend Wardell Franklin (Bill Cosby) to go to a party that Saturday night at Madam Zenobia’s, an uptown nightclub. While the two are at the party, the club is robbed. The masked bandits force the patrons to strip to their underwear, then steal their money and jewellery, including Steve’s wallet. The following day, Steve is at home and reading his newspaper when he learns he has won the lottery. However, he realizes that the lottery ticket was in the wallet that was stolen from him, and Steve and Wardell spend the remainder of the film tracking down his wallet by consulting with crooked politicians, fake detectives, con-artists, and underworld crime.”
Next, McKay directs the recently-announced sequel to “Anchorman”.
