Will Smith remakes STICKS, a near $200 million French blockbuster
French comedy about a post office manager which broke domestic box office records in France is picked up by Will Smith for a remake.
Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment and Warner Bros. have struck a deal to acquire the English language remake rights to the French comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks), a movie that broke box office records in France earlier this year with a $191 million domestic haul. The movie was about a post office manager who is banished from his outpost in the South of France, to a rainy town in the North - where he eventually grows to love his new neighbours. Directed by Dany Boon, Smith who has a keen eye on foreign cinema (he hired Gabrielle Muccino to direct The Pursuit of Happyness after seeing his work) took a liking to the film though there is no word if he wants to star in the remake. Will Smith and James Lassiter will produce with Ken Stovitz. Pathe Intl. controlled rights to the film. The remake will be titled Welcome to the Sticks say Variety...
"There are only 65 million people who live in France, and $191 million seemed to defy all logic. But when we saw the film, it's obvious why it works," Stovitz said. "We will probably place the character in a global corporation, and he literally gets sent to the sticks, but finds that rather than a backward place, it provides all that was missing in his life."
Looks fun - a little like a Billy Wilder comedy, wouldn't ya say?