Ice Cube’s forthcoming comedic film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
is being redone as the sequel to the rapper’s 2005 movie, Are We There Yet?
According to Variety,
the change occurred after Revolution Studios announced it had ceased development
of new product. The big opening for Martin Lawrence’s new movie, Big Momma’s
House 2, was also cited as a factor in changing the movie’s plot.
Ice Cube will
remain as the star of the sequel, titled Are We Done Yet, while Steve
Carr will stay on as director. The new movie will be produced by Ted Hartley,
Todd Garner, and Ice Cube and his Cube Vision partner Matt Alvarez.
The studio is
also trying to secure deals with Nia Long, who played the single mom and Ice
Cube’s love interest in the original, and Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden, the
children who accompanied the rapper’s kid-phobic character on a hellish road
trip, Variety reports.
The sequel finds
Ice Cube and company moving from the big city to the suburbs. A house renovation
leads to chaos, particularly when the contractor who clashes with Ice Cube bonds
with his wife and the two kids.
Blandings,
described as a remake of the Cary Grant comedy of the same name, would have
featured Thomas Haden Church, who is now working on Spider-Man 3. The
actor was set to play a contractor in the remake.
Are We There
Yet?, which earned $82 million as Columbia Pictures’ second highest grossing
film of 2005, has sold 3.7 million DVDs in North America, according to Revolution.
The sequel begins production in Vancouver in June.