The French film The Intouchables, about an ex-con hired be a caretaker for an aristocrat, earned $416 million at the international box office, while it only pulled it about $10 million domestically. Perhaps an American remake will fare better in the U.S. — at least, that’s the hope of The Weinstein Co. As the studio continues its search to fill in the cast and crew, Deadline now reports that Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart are circling the leading roles.

French actors François Cluzet and Omar Sy starred in the original, and the latter has gone on to for roles in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jurassic World, Burnt with Bradley Cooper, and Ron Howard’s upcoming Inferno with Tom Hanks. Paul Feig (Ghostbusters) wrote the script and was once planning to direct the film after Bridesmaids. After Feig left the project, The Weinstein Co. reportedly looked at Tom Shadyac to helm, while Colin Firth and Chris Tucker were eyed to potentially star at various points. Deadline reports that talks, as well as with Cranston and Hart, are still on-going and a director is expected to be announced shortly. Weinstein has clearly been working on this for a while and are committed to getting the remake off the ground.


Cranston place in the spotlight remains constant following his post-Breaking Bad roles in Godzilla, the Oscar-nominated Trumbo, and Kung Fu Panda 3 as Po’s father, with even more on the way. Hart found similar success with Get Hard and Ride Along 2, and he’s prepping for the release of Central Intelligence with Dwayne Johnson in June, as well as his MTV Movie Awards co-hosting stint.

Watch the trailer for the original Intouchables below.

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