Will Smith to Move to Sticks

Sure, Bel Air isn’t the sticks, but the premise fits.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Will Smith–otherwise known as “the closest thing to a box office lock outside of Indiana Jones”–is set to star in a remake of the French hit Welcome to the Sticks. Smith’s Overbrook Pictures will produce with Warner Brothers.

Here’s how THR describes the film:

Sticks, starring Kad Merad and Dany Boon, who also directed and co-wrote, follows a postal employee from the sunny south of France who gets an unwanted transfer to the rain-soaked north, known as “the sticks,” where he is eventually won over by the locals warm-hearted ways and impenetrable dialect.

Since its release in February, Sticks has grossed over $180 million dollars, and is set to overtake Titanic for the top box office spot in French history.

So what will Smith’s American remake be like? I would think the French setting is out. So how else could they recapture the fish out of water vibe? Hawaii-based postal worker gets moved to Alaska? Fast-talking Brooklyn guy gets sent to sleepy southern town? Miamian goes to Maine? Hey, how about this one–he’s a wisecracking, hip hop kind of guy from the mean streets of Philadelphia who gets sent to live with his wealthy, stuffy relatives in Bel Air? Yeah, that could work…