Scott Zabielski, who was attached to the project in 2012, is no longer on board to direct.
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, best known for sketch comedy show Key & Peele, have signed on to produce New Line Cinema’s Police Academy reboot.
Original producer Paul Maslansky is back for the new iteration, which aims to remake the seven-film comedy series about a ragtag group of police recruits who repeatedly are called to help save the city. Sam Brown is overseeing for New Line.
The first film, released in 1984 by Warner Bros., starred SteveGuttenberg as Mahoney, the group’s leader. The last film in the series was 1994’s Mission to Moscow. The series grossed a combined $242 million worldwide and spawned a pair of TV series.
A reboot of Police Academy has been set up for several years at New Line. First-time director ScottZabielski, who was attached to the project in 2012, is no longer on board to helm the film.
When The Hollywood Reporter first wrote about the attempt to revive the franchise in 2010,Maslansky said he aimed to completely recast the film with up-and-comers.
“It’s going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV,”Maslansky told THR. “It’s going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It’ll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we’ll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme.”
While there’s no official word on whether Key and Peele would star in the film, their brand of comedy could be a good fit. The duo, who have starred on the Comedy Central show since Jan. 31, 2012, are both former castmembers of MADtv. Key & Peele‘s third season premiered on September 18, 2013, and the show has been renewed for a fourth season. They’ll soon appear as FBI partners on four episodes of FX’s limited series Fargo.
Key and Peele are both repped by UTA and Principato Young Entertainment.
