Kenya Barris attends the BET+ “Diarra From Detroit” Los Angeles Premiere on March 20.Photo:Leon Bennett/Getty
Leon Bennett/Getty
Kenya Barrisloves remakes and reboots, despite what critics say about frequent reimaginings of beloved films in recent years.
While on the red carpet for the premiere of the new BET+ seriesDiarra from Detroitearlier this week,theblack-ishcreator, 49,tells PEOPLEabout his upcoming projects — and why he’s not afraid to remake some Hollywood classics in his own image.
“I want all the remakes!” he tells PEOPLE. “I do fresh stuff too, but I feel like there’s really no new stories if we’re going to be honest, you know what I’m saying?”
According tothe writer-producer, he’s currently preparing for the release of the sequel to his recent remake of the 1992 comedyWhite Men Can’t Jump.
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“Like we’re all sort of, you know, man versus man, man versus nature,” he says, discussing the story structures audiences are familiar with. “They’re all sort of the same thing. So I feel like the idea of having a piece of IP [intellectual property] during a time where it was difficult to put people in seats. And if you want to do theatrical things, sometimes if you have a piece of IP that speaks to a lot of people, it gives you something.”
Thinking back on the recent wave of remakes, Barris says he has some clear favorites —Dune,the science-fiction book franchise that was first made into a movie in 1984, stands out among them.
And in 2022, it was announced that Barris would also be heading upa remake ofThe Wizard of Oz, set to take place in modern-day Inglewood, Calif., as well as a remake ofIt’s a Wonderful Life,which he toldVarietywill feature a non-white lead actor.
“This is really a year that I’ve been really counting my blessings and I want to be really focused and make sure that those things come off well,” he tells PEOPLE, referring to his recent projects, which also include a biopic about comedian Richard Pryor and a sequel toGirls Trip.
“… They’re all at [the] green-light stage,” he added. “We’re all trying to get them going. Hopefully I’m directing. Hopefully I can get toWonderful Lifethis year. It’s like a big, big project for me. I would love to make that the second movie I do [this year].”
Barris still, of course, takes on opportunities to tell brand-new stories, includingDiarra from Detroit.The thriller series follows a schoolteacher who goes on a journey to find a man who ghosted her after a Tinder date, and Barris serves as executive producer alongside the creator of the show, Diarra Kilpatrick.
“It’s refreshing and relaxing to be able to see someone who has a vision and talent and knows what they want and doesn’t like need to sort of have, you know, other than some conversations and some things here,“ he says of Kilpatrick.
“She really does her thing and I feel like that’s what I want,“ he finishes. “Just moving forward to be able to sort of get with talent like that, that I can be a part of seeing them grow.“
Diarra from Detroitpremiered March 21 on BET+.
source: people.com
