#The Nutty Professor Reboot Is in the Works with Scream 5 Writer James Vanderbilt

The Nutty Professor reboot is in development with Scream 5 writer James Vanderbilt’s Project X. The movie, which originally starred comedian Jerry Lewis in 1963, was last remade back in 1996 with Eddie Murphy as the star. No studio is attached at the moment and Project X has not announced a writer or a director at this time. With that being said, a reboot of The Nutty Professor could do well at the box office with the right cast assembled.

James Vanderbilt is behind the upcoming Scream 5 movie and has written The Rundown, Zodiac, and The Amazing Spider-Man. So, it would not be surprising to hear if he ends up writing The Nutty Professor reboot on his own. The original version of the movie is a comedy classic with Jerry Lewis delivering an over the top performance. Hank Azaria channels Lewis when voicing Professor Frink on The Simpsons. Lewis directed the 1963 movie and co-wrote the script with Bill Richmond.

Eddie Murphy took The Nutty Professor to the next level in 1996. Murphy stars as Sherman Klump and as Buddy Love, along with Murphy also playing Papa Cletus Klump (Sherman’s father), Mama Anna Klump (Sherman’s mother), Grandma Ida Mae Jenson (Sherman’s grandmother, Anna’s mother), Ernie Klump Sr. (Sherman’s brother), and Lance Perkins, a parody of Richard Simmons. The movie was such a big success at the box office, earning well over $270 million globally, so a sequel was green lit. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps hit theaters in 2000 and was not the success that the studio was hoping for. It was torn apart by critics and didn’t even pass $200 million at the global box office.

While the script for the original movie was written by Jerry Lewis and Bill Richmond, it is a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Eddie Murphy’s take on The Nutty Professor also kept those elements, while differing quite a bit from what Lewis and Richmond put together in the early 1960s. As for the new reboot, it’s unclear how that story will go, or who will star in it. It’s also unclear if the lead actor will be taking on more than the two main roles in the story.

While 1996’s The Nutty Professor was made with the help of Jerry Lewis (he was the executive producer on the first installment and the sequel), he later regretted the decision to come on board in an interview from 2009. During the conversation, the comedian was quoted as saying, “I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you’re going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it.” Lewis passed away in 2017. Who knows what he’d think about a new remake. Deadline was the first to report on The Nutty Professor reboot.

Topics: The Nutty Professor