The remake of the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier classic comedy Uptown Saturday Night looks to be getting closer to becoming a reality, gaining a director and possible stars.

Adam McKay, who directed Will Ferrell comedies Talladega Nights and Anchorman, is in talks to develop and direct the Warner Bros. reboot of the 1974 classic about two working stiffs who become chummy with a group of gangsters in an effort to recover a winning lottery ticket.

The studio hopes Will Smith and Denzel Washington will star. Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment has been developing the project. The original cast included entertainment legends Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte and Richard Pryor.

Tim Dowling wrote the most recent script for the remake.

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(Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)