Rome-Italian powerhouse Medusa has bought the remake rights for France's run-away box office success Welcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis) a Medusa spokesperson confirmed to Screen Daily.
The film will be in development and production in 2009 for a potential 2010 release. Everything about the Italian re-make has yet to be decided, from cast to locations.
Medusa will also be handling the Italian rollout of the original French version (dubbed in Italian) on October 31. It will be released under the title Giu Al Nord (Down from the North). For the remake they may switch the title to Su Dal Sud (Up from the South).
Giampaolo Letta, Medusa CEO highlighted the challenges of dubbing the film for its release 'We conducted a lot of try-outs and we also decided on using slang over using a form of a dialect.' Letta said.
Dany Boon's Bienvenue chez Les Ch'tis is about a postal worker transferred from the South up to a remote Northern town. The picture attracted $199 million (Euros 256m) in box office gross in France alone, from 20 million admissions.
In May of this year Warner Bros announced that it had acquired the film, which will be remade by Will Smith and Overbrook Entertainment.
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