Mar 11 2009'Death at a Funeral' (2010) to Re-Invent 'Death at a Funeral (2007)
Chris Rock has astutely noticed that Frank Oz's 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral was not made this year and does not take place in an urban American setting, and he's out to fix that (via A.V. Club):
Chris Rock is set to star and co-write "Death at a Funeral," a re-imagining of the 2007 comedy, for Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.Aeysha Carr will write the script with Rock for a comedy inspired by the SKE-produced original, which was written by Dean Craig and directed by Frank Oz.
Plan is for an ensemble comedy about a funeral ceremony that leads to the digging up of shocking family secrets, as well as misplaced cadavers and indecent exposure. While the original was set in Britain, the new film will take place in an urban American setting.
How closely the Hollywood model resembles the format of my friends and I wasting most of a night playing old Mega Man games. As soon as one guy finishes their attempt, someone else is already swatting at the controls claiming they can do better, only to usually fare much worse. The main difference is that, when Hollywood does it, the result is too often a two-hour waste of time; with us, it's still a wasted two hours, but at least we finally end the tyranny of Gemini Man.
(Thanks, Will.)
Chris Rock rolls with 'Funeral' [Variety]
Reader Comments
1. kittkatt - March 11, 2009 5:32 PM
woot!
I love it when good movies are made into derivative American remixes. And an urban setting? I'll bet Chris Rock will have some HI-larious ethnic people in it. A black church lady with a huge hat? a middle eastern convenience store owner? Oh boy I can just hardly wait!
2. Fuzzy Tingle Times - March 11, 2009 5:35 PM
What a fucking stupid idea. "Goddamn this movie didn't have various black sorta celebrities in it. Better get as many as we can, oh yeah and that midget from bad santa and me myself and irene can get some work too! YAY!!!!!!! OH OH OH can Tyler Perry play a transvestite in it? Maybe... he can have a bunch of misadventures on the way!"
3. Hal - March 11, 2009 5:50 PM
All is forgiven if Peter Dinklage gets to play the exact same part again but gets a big fat payday - that's the equivalent of beating SNAKE MAN without using the second controller super jump cheat...
4. Chris - March 11, 2009 6:19 PM
I think we can all miss "Def at uh Fernal"...
5. J - March 11, 2009 6:24 PM
The original was very good. If this is Chris Rocks normal stuff, I won't like it. He has done one or two average movies that were fun to watch but those were not comedies.
6. m - March 11, 2009 6:27 PM
I guess we no longer wait the obligatory 10 years to turn something into a steaming pile of shit
7. sully - March 11, 2009 6:51 PM
at first, I thought the title of this article was a joke, and there was just another movie with the same title coming out. then I read the article, and my mind was on the verge of explosion.
@5
Did you NOT see Pootie Tang? Comedy gold. I guess he's barely in it though.
8. What?! - March 11, 2009 7:06 PM
does anyone notice it says FUNeral how the letters are off? is this like an Epic Movie/movie-whatever spoof?
9. Anonymous Poster - March 11, 2009 7:35 PM
Gemini Man is a bastard.
10. Bethie - March 11, 2009 7:58 PM
Chris Rock's movie also won't include a robotic dog sidekick named Rush. I think it's skippable.
11. Dorien - March 11, 2009 9:48 PM
I heard about this a couple days ago and I cried. Or at least I wanted to. I like Chris Rock but I really, really hate that he's doing this. I loved Oz's version and I'm American. Why the fuck does he have to do this? What's next?
12. Chris - March 12, 2009 1:02 AM
This story first broke a couple of months ago. It gained more traction this week as casting was announced including Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, and Zoe Saldana. Which brings me to Hal's comment:
"All is forgiven if Peter Dinklage gets to play the exact same part again but gets a big fat payday"-
James Marsden was also among the cast members announced, so I assume he will be taking on the Peter Dinklage role. Except he'll be the mysterious white man who shows up at the funeral instead of the mysterious little person.
No way does Rock manage to do justice to the original- although I wouldn't mind seeing Tracy Morgan in the Alan Tudyk role: naked and out of his mind for most of the movie.
13. Ajax - March 12, 2009 1:23 AM
Megaman III is the second best in the series behind Megaman II. Dude, Snake Man beats Gemini Man every day of the week. Shadow Man is where it's at.
14. drella66 - March 12, 2009 1:25 PM
The original movie sucked...not even funny
15. sully - March 12, 2009 6:57 PM
@11
An American Frank Oz is
16. OH DAMN IT - March 13, 2009 3:57 AM
SON OF A BITCH.
Somebody call a sniper, and I mean that in the nicest way *POSSIBLE*
But seriously, stop killing the film industry plox.
17. Marjorie - March 13, 2009 4:18 AM
@15: I think #11 may have been thinking of Oz as in Australia... wrong again b/c this is British, but still.
18. lizzy - March 13, 2009 1:04 PM
WTF -- WAY TO RUIN A GOOD MOVIE!!!!!!!
why would anyone feel the need to remake a 3 year old movie?
fucking idiot.
i hope the new ones sucks.