Common To Star in Remake of Cooley High + #TBT

wwetvsports21
Jul 21, 2016
1 min read

Oscar winning Common has been chosen to star in a remake in the classic “Cooley High" which originally starred Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. The movie was a 1960's coming of age movie that predated movies such as "Juice", "Boyz In Da Hood", and "Menace II Society". Cooley High also addressed serious topics such as gang violence, masculinity, sexism and the value of education in the black community.

“Cooley High” was set in Common’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and centered on a pair of teen best friends during the final weeks of the school year.

The original film was produced on a $750,000 budget and grossed $13 million at the U.S. box office, making it one of the top 30 highest domestic grossing films of 1975.

Bosses at America’s ABC network developed a TV adaptation of “Cooley High” soon afterward, but the pilot was poorly received.

As a result, studio executives asked the show’s producers to completely revamp the show as a sitcom with new characters and a new title, and the series became beloved comedy “What’s Happening!”

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Franklin will produce through his Franklin Entertainment, Common under Freedom Road Productions and Krantz through Flame Ventures. Drew Comins will executive produce for Flame Ventures along with Derek Dudley for Freedom Road. Jonathan Glickman and Adam Rosenberg will oversee the project for MGM.