Chris Rock will write and star in a re-imagined version of Death At A Funeral for Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE) barely a year after it was released through MGM.

Aeysha Carr is co-writing the script with Rock inspired by Dean Craig's original story about a man who exposes the truth about a recently deceased patriarch of a dysfunctional British family.

The producers are eyeing a spring start and are out to directors and cast. The story will be transplanted to an urban American setting with a primarily African-American ensemble. Frank Oz directed the original from a screenplay by Dean Craig.

Sidney Kimmel and Rock will produce with William Horberg under his first-look deal set up at SKE since he left the company as its production chief.

Share Stallings and Laurence Malkin are also producing as they did on the original. Jim Tauber and Craig will serve as executive producers.

The project marks SKE's first production since it announced over the summer that it would refocus its efforts on commercial films.

'We've been trying to work with Chris Rock and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment for some time now,' Screen gems president Clint Culpepper said. 'It's exciting to us that this film provides the opportunity to work with both.'

'Death Of A Funeral was a very funny film we are all very proud of here,' Tauber added. 'It was remarkably successful in many overseas territories. Chris, who was an unabashed fan of the film, came to us with a hysterical, completely new re-imagining of the original concept.

'Clint and his team loved it and jumped on board right away, and they're bringing their considerable marketing and distribution savvy to the project. We couldn't be more excited.'

Screen Gems' senior vice president of production Scott Strauss is overseeing the project for the studio.

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