There are two types of people in this world. The first thinks that Chris Rock's next project will be a comedy in the same vein as just about every movie he's done in the last 23 years. The second thinks that Chris Rock's next project is scripting a remake of the classic Akira Kurosawa thriller High and Low. While you may think that this second group is high on everything Hunter S. Thompson keeps in his trunk, and they probably are, they are also 100% correct.

On the road promoting his newest film, a remake of Death at a Funeral, Rock revealed to Black Voices that he will be working on the project with director Mike Nichols, replacing...David Mamet (Did we time travel back 11 days or is he being serious?). Mamet originally wrote the script back in 1999 for Martin Scorsese, though it is unknown if Scorsese has any connection to this new project. In the original, an executive of a shoe company is disturbed to hear that his son has been kidnapped by a gang holding him for ransom. As it turns out, however, the kidnappers have actually taken not the executive's son, but the son of the executive's chauffeur. The money for the ransom, however, comes from the executive mortgaging his assets so that he may buy out the National Shoe Company to stop them from sticking their hands in his business. He must decide whether to use the money for the business transaction, or to save the young man's life.

To be blunt, this is a very odd story. Yes, both Mamet and Rock have a predilection for cursing, but one wrote Glengarry Glen Ross, while the other wrote Down To Earth. This isn't me putting down Chris Rock, either; all one has to do is listen to his stand-up to know that he is brilliant. With that in mind, this isn't exactly his wheelhouse. Unfortunately it has been quite a while since we've seen anything really solid from Rock in any capacity, but perhaps this is the kind of project that will allow him to stretch his wings and remind audiences just how great he can be.