Paramount Is Remaking The Longest Yard... Again

Nearly 50 years after the original film and 18 years after its remake, it appears that Paramount Pictures is returning to the prison gridiron for yet another go at "The Longest Yard."

According to Deadline, "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" writer Rodney Barnes is penning the script for the second Hollywood remake of the Burt Reynolds football classic from 1974. In the Robert Aldrich-directed film, Reynolds stars as Paul "Wrecking" Crewe, a former pro football quarterback who is sentenced to prison. As soon as Crewe is behind bars, the institution's warden, Hazen (Eddie Albert), asks the ex-athlete to assemble a team consisting of his fellow inmates — which is dubbed "The Mean Machine" — to take on his squad made up of prison guards.

Director Peter Segal and successful "SNL" star Adam Sandler recruited Reynolds for the 2005 remake of "The Longest Yard," where Sandler assumed the role of Paul Crewe and Reynolds played the key role of Coach Nate Scarborough. The remake also stars Chris Rock in James Hampton's original role as Caretaker — the go-to guy for illegal contraband — and James Cromwell as Warden Hazen.

In addition to "Winning Time," Barnes' writing credits include the sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," which was co-created by Rock, as well as the animated series "The Boondocks," and a pair of episodes of the Marvel series "The Runaways." Additionally, the scribe has penned material for a couple of Oscars telecasts and has written episodes for the series "American Gods" and "Wu-Tang: An American Saga." Prior to "Winning Time," Barnes wrote eight episodes for the wrestling drama "Heels."

The original version of "The Longest Yard" was produced and co-written by Albert S. Ruddy, who won a best picture Oscar for producing the 1972 mob movie classic "The Godfather." The film also stars prolific character actor Ed Lauter as prison guard and team leader Captain Knauer, as well as Richard Kiel as the towering prisoner, Samson. After "The Longest Yard," Kiel would go on to play the steely-toothed henchman Jaws in a pair of Roger Moore's James Bond movies.

The new remake is being made by production company Gunpowder & Sky. According to Deadline, the company's CEO, Van Toffler, was an executive producer on the 2005 remake of "The Longest Yard," which was co-produced by Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

In addition to the Hollywood productions of "The Longest Yard," the film was remade in the U.K. in 2001 under the name "Mean Machine." Soccer star-turned-actor Vinnie Jones stars as Danny "Mean Machine" Meehan in the film, where the sport is changed from American football to soccer. Also, "The Longest Yard" was remade as the 2015 Egyptian film "Captain Masr," where again, soccer was the sport at the center of the film.

As of this writing, there is no production timeline for the new remake of "The Longest Yard."