Eddie Murphy Teaming With ‘Ride Along’ Director Tim Story For ‘Grumpy Old Men’ Remake

Eddie Murphy is finally making his return to big-screen blockbuster comedy. Sadly, it appears that he’s grown a bit…old. The Wrap is reporting that Murphy has signed on to star in the remake of “Grumpy Old Men.” So yeah, get it? He’s…old.

The original “Grumpy Old Men” was a hit when it was released in 1993. The film starred Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon as next-door neighbors that were…ummm…grumpy and old. The original “Grumpy Old Men” was so popular that it spawned a sequel just two years later, obviously titled “Grumpier Old Men.”

Now, Murphy is on board to be one of the titular old men, and he’s bringing director Tim Story along for the ride. While Story may be known to some film fans as the guy who turned in a couple of terrible “Fantastic Four” films in the mid-2000s, the work that is paints a better picture of why he’s perfect for this type of film include his directorial efforts “Barbershop,” “Ride Along (1 & 2),” and “Think Like a Man.”

Murphy hasn’t been attached to a major four-quadrant comedy like this in many years. It’s probably been since 2012’s “Tower Heist,” which was preceded by 2010’s “Imagine That,” that we’ve seen the comedic legend star in a major comedy film. However, if we want to talk about the last time he’s been in a comedy that has been good, we’d have to go back even further. But now, it appears that the comedy icon is making a run at a comeback, with this new film and the in-production Rudy Ray Moore biopic, “Dolemite Is My Name.”

No word on which way they’ll go for an actor to star opposite Murphy. Clearly, it’s going to be a role that will be highly-coveted. There’s also no word on a release date, but Story is currently working on his remake of “Shaft,” which hits theaters in June 2019. So, we can probably expect a mid-2019 production start date for “Grumpy Old Men.”