The Completely Unnecessary File: Why Remake 2007's Death at a Funeral?

I just noticed this article on imdb.com:

Rock Gathers Stars For Funeral
9 March 2009 9:15 AM, PDT


Chris Rock is assembling an all-star comedy cast for his forthcoming movie Death At A Funeral - both Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan have signed on to the project.

The film, a remake of a 2007 British movie of the same name, revolves around a dysfunctional family which comes together for the patriarch's funeral, only to be rocked by gay revelations from the deceased's alleged former lover.

Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Zoe Saldana, Columbus Short and James Marsden are also on board for the comedy, which will be co-written and produced by Rock and directed by Neil Labute.

Filming is due to begin this spring, reports Variety.

Now I have no idea how Neil Labute got in on this project but I really don't understand the point of it in the first place. Frank Oz's hilarious Death at a Funeral just came out in 2007, had a full run in U.S. theaters and even featured one or two actors familiar to U.S. viewers. I saw it in the theater with my dad and he was falling out of his chair laughing the entire film. It was so perfectly timed, so perfectly outrageous and I can't imagine anyone doing a better job - especially so soon! I see that there may be a different spin on things by transferring the story from a British to a mostly African-American cast but just do yourselves a favor - rent this movie on DVD and skip any imitations: