Common and DeVon Franklin to produce ‘Cooley High’ remake

Posted by | Ray Cornelius 

Deadline is reporting that Oscar winning-performer Common is teaming up with DeVon Franklin for a remake of the 1975 coming-of-age story “Cooley High.”

The two are co-producing the film with Tony Krantz, whose father Steve Krantz produced the original film.

“Cooley High” follows a group of high school friends whose lives change when two of the friends meet a pair of career criminals and get falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac.  The original film starred Glynn Terman (Colonel Taylor of “A “Different World”), Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs (Joe Jackson of “The Jacksons: An American Dream”) and Garrett Morris (Stan of “Martin”) and was the blueprint for the hugely popular TV series “What’s Happening!!”

Common, Franklin and Krantz are reportedly remaking the film in light of the recent murders of African-American men around Chicago and the rest of the country. The movie featured a number of Motown hits from The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes and the G.C. Cameron classic, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” which was remade famously by Boyz II Men.

Stay tuned…

Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com and IMDB.com