Kenya Barris Says ‘I Want All The Remakes’ As He Speaks On Criticism of Hollywood Reboots

March 25, 2024 by Ashley Blackwell in Hollywood with 0 Comments

Kenya Barris Says ‘I Want All The Remakes’ As He Speaks On Criticism of Hollywood Reboots

Kenya Barris wants to do it all–old or new!

According to celebrated director/producer Kenya Barris, reimaging iconic projects in Hollywood is his forte, and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks about it.

Kenya Barris

When speaking on reboot culture, Kenya Barris told an outlet,

“I want all the remakes! I do fresh stuff, too, but I feel like there’s really no new stories if we’re going to be honest, you know what I’m saying?”

He added, addressing the link between consistent plot patterns and the viewers:

“Like, we’re all sort of, you know, man versus man, man versus nature. They’re all sort of the same thing. So, I feel like the idea of having a piece of [intellectual property] during a time where it was difficult to put people in seats. And if you want to do theatrical things, sometimes… if you have a peace of IP that speaks to a lot of people, it gives you something.”

Kenya Barris

Currently, the 49-year-old is prepping for the follow-up to his 2023 remake of the iconic film, ‘White Men Can’t Jump.’ If you didn’t know, Barris co-wrote the production alongside Doug Hall from a story with illustrious screenwriter Ron Shelton.

Additionally, the ‘black-ish’ creator had a hand in 2019’s ‘Shaft,’ the 2021 sequel to ‘Coming to America,‘ and the ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ remake in 2022. That same year, it was also announced that Barris was leading another ‘Wizard of Oz’ remake.

Gushing about his forthcoming endeavors, he said,

“This is really a year that I’ve been really counting my blessings and I want to be really focused and make sure that those things come off well.”

As previously reported, aside from the new comedy-drama, ‘Diarra from Detroit,’ where he serves as the executive producer, Barris has a Richard Pryor biopic and a ‘Girls Trip 2’ up his creative sleeve.