What are overweight people to do when diet and exercise are simply not working? The answer: become sumo wrestlers. That’s the premise behind A Matter of Size, a remake of a 2009 Israeli movie directed by Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor. The re-imagining will be directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) from a script by Howard Franklin (The Big Year). The Paramount project will be produced by David Permut, whose Permut Presentations owns the remake rights to the original property. Hit the jump for more on A Matter of Size.
THR reported on Turteltaub helming the sumo comedy remake. Check out the trailer for the original below:
Here's the synopsis from the original A Matter of Size:
A Matter of Size is an Israeli comedy (yes, comedy!) like nothing you've seen before, a hilarious and heart-warming tale about about a coming out of a different kind: four overweight guys who learn to love themselves through the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling! Herzl (Itzik Cohen) has been struggling with his weight ever since he was young, and his overbearing mother made it no easier on him. His friends Aharon (Dvir Benedek) and Gidi (Alon Dahan) struggle with the issue of weight in their personal lives as well; from fear of losing a spouse to a "thinner" man, to coming out as a gay bear. When Herzl loses his job as a cook and starts washing dishes in a Japanese restaurant, he discovers the world of Sumo, where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated. Through the restaurant owner Kitano (Togo Igawa), a former Japanese Sumo coach (supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel) , Herzl and his friends fall in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos". However, Herzl's dedication to this demanding men-only sport threatens his budding relationship with Zehava (Irit Kaplan), a plus-size social worker.
