Kevin Hart and former Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston have paired up to remake the critically acclaimed French movie The Intouchables.  The American version has been renamed The Upside by producers at The Weinstein Company and is set to be released in March of 2018.

The movie follows the unexpected friendship between Phillip Lacasse (Cranston), a Park Avenue billionaire left paralyzed after a hang-gliding accident, and convicted felon Dell (Hart), recently out of prison and in need of employment. They form an unlikely bond, bridge their differences and gain invaluable wisdom in the process, giving each man a renewed sense of passion for all of life’s possibilities.

Nicole Kidman will join Hart and Cranston in the film. Producer Harvey Weinstein dished that they played around with the idea of a Latino actor playing the role of Dell (while Obama was POTUS). However, now under the Trump presidency and with the immigration argument being where it is, that choice may push the film far into the controversial political space.

Omar Sy starred in the original 2011 French comedy and said that the American equivalent of the two leads' relationship would be comparable to the relationship between the USA and Mexico; implying that Sy's original character reimagined as a Latino actor in the Hollywood/Weinstein Company remake would be appropriate.  Producers at Weinstein are reportedly entertaining the idea of Hart's character being of Black and Latino heritage.

The Upside is set to release on March 9, 2018, the same weekend as Disney’s Ava DuVernay title A Wrinkle In Time.

 

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