Queen Latifah has signed on to executive produce and star in a remake of the Steve Martin-Lily Tomlin comedy, “All of Me,” for New Line Cinema.
The original 1984 film followed a dying spoiled heiress (Tomlin) whose soul ends up in the body of a successful lawyer (Martin). She controls the right side of his body while he controls the left, which causes friction and comedy.
Latifah’s version is set in the world of politics, where a female Jesse Jackson-type finds herself in the body of a staunch conservative.
The Oscar-nominated actress will executive produce with her partner-manager Shakim Compere of Flavor Unit Entertainment. Adam Shankman will serve as producer with his Offspring Entertainment partner Jennifer Gibgot.
“All of Me” marks the third time the rapper-turned-actress is pairing with Shankman. Latifah is starring as Motormouth Maybelle in Shankman’s adaptation of “Hairspray,” which New Line releases in July. Their first collaboration was the 2003 hit comedy “Bringing Down the House,” which also starred Martin.
New Line’s been developing the “All of Me” remake for the past two years, according to Daily Variety, and had first hired scribes Brent Goldberg and David Wagner to write a modern take on the story with Wanda Sykes in the Tomlin role.
“When New Line told us that they wanted to remake it with an African-American actress in the role, we said it’s got to be Latifah,” Gibgot told the Hollywood Reporter. “Adam adores her and thinks she’s great with physical comedy, and as it happens, she wants to go back to doing physical comedy.”
