Getty Images / New Line Cinema
Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player LeBron James isn’t content just being one of the top players on the court, as he recently has been making forays into Hollywood with a number of projects.
James’ latest venture is remaking the ’90s comedy franchise HOUSE PARTY, starring hip-hop stars Kid ‘n Play, which led to two sequels over four years. LeBron is producing the reboot for New Line with his SpringHill Entertainment partner Maverick Carter, and they’ve already hired Atlanta writers Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori to write the screenplay.
The original House Party opened in March 1990, written and directed by Reginald Hudlin (the Oscar-nominated producer of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained). Although it only grossed $26.4 million, that was enough to warrant sequels in 1991 and 1994, which each grossed less than $20 million. (True story: I actually worked in the studio with Kid and Play on songs that were used in the original House Party.)
James told The Hollywood Reporter, “This is definitely not a reboot. It’s an entirely new look for a classic movie. Everyone I grew up with loved House Party. To partner with this creative team to bring a new House Party to a new generation is unbelievable.”
Although there’s no word on who will be the new Kid ‘n Play, the film’s potential soundtrack will still play a large role in casting. Superstar Drake is already working with SpringHill on the Netflix crime-drama Top Boy and Vince Carter doc The Carter Effect.
Maverick Carter says, “We’re trying out some ideas for musicians to be cast in and to be a part of the project.”
James himself won’t necessarily play a part in the movie, although his small role in Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck was very popular. “There’s no plan for it now, but he’s a fantastic actor, and if he wants a role, Stephen will find a great role to put him in,” said Carter.
Some might remember that LeBron was slated to star in a Universal comedy once called Ballers, co-starring Kevin Hart, but that might have been overshadowed by the HBO show starring Dwayne Johnson. There hasn’t been much word on that project, so it might be in limbo.
LeBron has also been attached to star in a Space Jam sequel for Warner Bros. and SpringHill, but that project still seems to be in development limbo.
SpringHill is also developing a Netflix mini about entrepeneur and activist Madam C.J. Walker, starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer, who is also one of the series EPs. The company also has the Starz docu-series Warriors of Liberty City about the Florida youth football team that has produced dozens of NFL players, and the second season of NBC’s game show The Wall.
James and Glover are represented by WME with James also repped by Ziffren Brittenham and Glover by Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
The news was initially reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Edward Douglas | East Coast Editor
