Woody Harrelson’s "White Men Can't Jump" remake in the works

PanARMENIAN.Net - A remake of 1992's basketball comedy "White Men Can't Jump" is now in the works. The original movie featured Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes, who portrayed streetball hustlers.

Kenya Barris, the creator of ABC's acclaimed comedy "Black-ish", will serve as the remake's scriptwriter and producer, AceShowbiz said citing The Hollywood Reporter. Barris' "Black-ish" scooped up Emmy nominations and Golden Globes for its star Tracee Ellis Ross. In the meantime, Barris is set to develop the remake of action-thriller film "Shaft". He has also written forthcoming comedy "Girl Trip" featuring Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Regina Hall.

Teaming up with Barris for "White Men Can't Jump" remake are Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin, NFL player for the Carolina Panthers Ryan Kalil and Noah Weinstein. Both Griffin and Kalil will produce the project through their production banner Mortal Media. The company is also developing a remake of Disney's "The Rocketeers", with black female character as its lead.

The original "White Men Can't Jump" follows the story of Billy Hoyle (Harrelson), a former college basketball who likes tricking streetballers that assume Hoyle can't play because he's white. Hoyle beats them out of their false assumption and makes money from that. Enters Sidney (Snipes), who later becomes Hoyle's equal rival and eventually becomes his partner for 2-on-2 tournaments.

Ron Shelton directed and wrote the original movie, which performed well and earned more than $90 million worldwide. The 1992 movie gained positive reception from public, and surprisingly, acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick enlisted it as one of his favorite movies.

The cast for "White Men Can't Jump" remake hasn't been announced yet.