Once upon a time there was a little French dramedy called The Intouchables that made $350 million worldwide and was voted the cultural event of the year in its native country. Not surprisingly, Hollywood has taken notice of this success and has set its sights on Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx or Idris Elba to star in the leading role for the impending remake.
The Weinstein Company recently acquired North American distribution rights and has been slowly rolling the film out in limited release over the last few weeks, but that isn’t stopping them from remaking the film as well.
It was The New York Post that reported that the studio was circling Rock, Foxx and Elba and if one was cast, they would play the role of Driss (portrayed by Omar Sy in the original), a young offender who becomes the care-giver for a wealthy quadriplegic.
Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is set to direct with Colin Firth in the role of the aforementioned millionaire.
These are all fine choices, with the lot of them having proven skilful at both comedy and drama. If we’re going by how the original Driss was portrayed, Chris Rock seems like the least fitting choice and in my opinion at least, it is Idris Elba that’s perfect for the role.
Elba is no longer a second-tier thespian, as in addition to having just come off huge success with Prometheus, he will headline Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim and reprise his role as Heimdall in Thor 2. Foxx can be seen in this winter’s Django Unchained and Rock is currently voicing Marty in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.
The remake, titled Untouchable, has yet to grab a release date.
We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.
