Key & Peele To Produce Police Academy Reboot
New Line Cinema’s reboot of the Police Academy franchise has just had two new producer’s sign on: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.
The duo, best known for their Comedy Central sketch comedy show Key & Peele, have been rumored to be attached to project since Peele recently, on the podcast “The Movie Crypt”, revealed the they were talks but that nothing was confirmed. The Hollywood Reporterexclusively confirmed their involvement earlier today.
There’s no word yet on whether Key and Peele will star, direct, or do anything beyond produce the upcoming Police Academy, but the low brow humor that the series hinged on is a perfect fit for the comedy duo, who are currently preparing the fourth season of their critically-acclaimed show. Key & Peele will even be honored with a Peabody Award this year, alongside other great television shows such as Breaking Bad, Broadchurch, and House of Cards.
Honored and thrilled to be in the same company as past Peabody Award recipients. Let the smartest dog in the world jokes begin! @JordanPeele
— Keegan-Michael Key (@KeeganMKey) April 3, 2014
The first Police Academy film was released in 1984 and grossed $82 million in North America. The comedy hinged on the premise of a new mayor announcing a policy that the police department is required to accept all willing applicants. The movie then followed a group of misfit recruits as they tried to prove they were worthy to be police officers. The six sequels, which grossed a combined total of $150 million, followed the graduates of the first film through various adventures before taking them to Russia to help catch an international crime figure in 1994’s Police Academy: Mission To Moscow.
The main star of the series was Steve Guttenberg, who played Carey Mahoney, a repeat offender forced to join the academy as punishment. Other standouts from the cast include comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait and “The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects”, Michael Winslow.
There have been have been plans for a new Police Academy film for quite awhile now. A proposed eighth film, which would have starred most of the original cast, was shelved in 2006 and the idea for a reboot has bounced around Hollywood studios ever since. The Hollywood Reporter talked to Paul Maslansky, original producer of the seven film series, about the reboot in 2010:
“It’s going to be very worthwhile to the people who remember it and to those who saw it on TV,” Maslansky said. “It’s going to be a new class. We hope to discover new talent and season it with great comedians. It’ll be anything but another movie with a numeral next to it. And we’ll most probably retain the wonderful musical theme.”
Scott Zabielski, who’s been behind the camera for some episodes of Tosh.O, had been announced as director of the reboot in 2012, but is no longer attached to the project.
Prior to anything with Police Academy, however, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will be appearing in four episodes of FX’s new series Fargo as two FBI agents obsessed with finding Billy Bob Thorton’s character.
