- Title: USA: AMERICAN PREMIERE OF COMIC/ACTOR CHRIS ROCK IN "DOWN TO EARTH"
- Date: 4th February 2001
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 4) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) CHRIS ROCK SAYING OF MEETING WITH WARREN BEATTY, After the meeting, well, this guy seemed like a smart guy, lemme watch some of his older movies. "Reds," "Shampoo," and when I saw "Heaven Can Wait," I was like, oh my God! This is perfect! You know, Richard Pryor should've done this. Th
- Embargoed: 19th February 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA1BD81XHGCKETJTGIE31AX1KGA
- Story Text: Celebrating his first time out as a leading man in a feature film, comic-turned-actor Chris Rock attended the World Premiere of his new film "Down to Earth" on Monday, February 12 in Los Angeles.
Although he previously had supporting roles in such films as "Lethal Weapon 4," "Dogma" and "New Jack City," this is Rock's first starring role. Until now, he has been better known for his stand-up comedy routine and his weekly cable television comedy series "The Chris Rock Show."
"Down to Earth" is a remake of Warren Beatty's 1979 comedy classic "Heaven Can Wait." In fact, it was after a meeting with Beatty that Rock came up with the idea to remake that film with him in the lead role.
In this new version, Rock plays struggling stand-up comic Lance Barton, who is hoping to get a prestigious spot performing standup at the famed Apollo Theater in New York.
But his plans are interrupted when he is hit by a bus.
An overcautious angel played by Eugene Levy witnesses the accident and mistakenly plucks Lance from the tragedy before it happens and brings him up to Heaven, which is run by a no-nonsense head angel named Mr. King, played by Chazz Palminteri.
When King discovers the mistake, he puts Lance back on Earth in the body of a wealthy and elderly white business mogul who has just been murdered by his trophy wife (played by Jennifer Coolidge) and his personal assistant (played by Greg Germann.) Soon, Lance is changing the way the mogul does business, learning new things about himself and falling in love with a beautiful woman battling his company played by Regina King.
"Down to Earth" is directed by brothers Chris and Paul Weitz, who most recently co-directed the box office hit "American Pie," which also featured Eugene Levy. They admit that the first "Heaven Can Wait," actually, itself a remake of an even earlier film, was a very important and influential film for them while they were growing up.
The Weitz brothers also co-wrote the film along with three veteran writers of "The Chris Rock Show," Lance Crouther, Ali Le Roi and Louis CK.
"Down to Earth" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, February 16. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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