Jerry Lewis’ comedy “The Nutty Professor” is getting a reboot from the production company behind “Scream 5.”
Project X principals James Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Paul Neinstein have bought the rights to the 1963 movie, which was remade in 1996 starring Eddie Murphy. No director or actors are attached to the remake yet.
Lewis portrayed a nerdy college professor who concocted a potion that transformed him into a suave hipster named Buddy Love, who pursues one of his students, played by Stella Stevens. Lewis directed from a script he co-wrote with Bill Richmond, as a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Film historians regard “The Nutty Professor” as the most memorable film of Lewis’ long career. In 2004, “The Nutty Professor” was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
The Eddie Murphy version, which also starred Jada Pinkett Smith, was a box office hit, grossing $274 million worldwide. Murphy portrayed seven different characters. Universal also released a sequel, “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” in 2000.
Project X Entertainment’s Vanderbilt, Neinstein and Sherak are producing the upcoming “Scream 5,” which has Courteney Cox and David Arquette set to reprise their roles in the franchise. Filming is expected to begin later this year in Wilmington, N.C.
Vanderbilt and Project X are repped by WME. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.