MGM interested in producing a remake of Cooley High. The studio is planning on making its own version of the 1975 coming-of-age drama based on a script from Seth Rosenfeld.
MGM will work with DeVon Franklin, Common and Tony Krantz on the project. The original film, which was set in Chicago in the 1960s, made a mark as one of the many movies focusing on youth life and culture during the 1970’s. Costing only $750,000 to make, Cooley High ended up drawing in over $13 million at the box office and was considered revolutionary by many as it rejected the issues and themes common to African-American cinema at the time in favor of its own original material:
Franklin will produce through his Franklin Entertainment, Common under Freedom Road Productions and Krantz through Flame Ventures. Drew Comins will executive produce for Flame Ventures along with Derek Dudley for Freedom Road. Jonathan Glickman and Adam Rosenberg will oversee the project for MGM, which is coming off the success of Me Before You, which it produced. That pic, starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin based on Jojo Moyes’ bestseller, has grossed $172.9M worldwide since Warner Bros released it last month.
Rosenfeld, whose credits include HBO’s How to Make It in America and King of the Jungle, is working on Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series The Get Down. Franklin, Common, Krantz and Rosenfeld are all repped by CAA. Franklin is also repped by attorney John Meigs at Hansen Jacobsen.
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