Kevin Hart Tackling 'Scrooged' Remake for Paramount

A Christmas Carol is the gift that keeps on giving to Hollywood.


Paramount and Kevin Hart have teamed up to develop a remake of Scrooged, the 1988 Christmas comedy that starred Bill Murray and was directed by Richard Donner.


The update is being eyed as a potential acting vehicle for Hart, who will produce via his Hartbeat Productions. A search for a writer to pen the script is underway.


Scrooged was a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, centering on a selfish television executive, played by Murray, who is visited by various ghosts who help him regain his Christmas spirit. Also in the cast were Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait and Robert Mitchum.


The movie was a moderate box office hit when it was released but has become a cult hit and Christmas fixture. One reason for the long-lasting appeal is the movie's irreverent but still heartfelt take on the Dickens material, which has been adapted for screens big and small numerous times, with performers ranging from Marcel Marceau to Jim Carrey to even Mickey Mouse taking on the characters.


Hart is currently gearing up to shoot Fatherhood, Sony’s adaptation of the weepy best-seller Two Kisses for Maddie, which Paul Weitz is directing this summer. Hart is also among the project’s producers.


He is one of the voice stars of The Secret Life of Pets 2, which Universal and Illumination open Friday, and next appears on the big screen in the sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which opens December.