Ice Cube’s Welcome Back, Kotter Waiting On Weinsteins

Okay, so maybe John Singleton isn’t completely sold on the idea of Ice Cube as B.A. Baracus in his A-Team adaptation. That’s fine. You know what? Ice Cube has his own television adaptation to do.

We’re talking, naturally, about Welcome Back, Kotter. It makes all kinds of sense — Cube’s already rocking the Gabe Kaplan ‘fro — and, as Cube tells MTV Movies, he knows just how he wants to bring the ’70s sitcom into 21st-century cineplexes:

“The names will be saved, don’t worry about it. Everybody will have the same name. To me, it’s still a comedy, but it’s real. It’s more of a ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High,’ not so much ‘Up your nose with a rubber hose.’ How could I do [the movie] remotely like the series? They’re still Sweathogs, the people that nobody wants to teach.”

Cube’s Kotter has a script in place — written by The Hot Chick‘s Tom Brady — but what with the strike and all…well, you know. Asked about the film’s current prospects, Cube tells MTV to “ask the Weinsteins” — which might not be a bad idea, seeing as how the Weinsteins are two of the only film moguls in town with the ability to hire union writers.

Oh, and don’t worry, original Kotter fans — Cube was a fan of the show. Matter of fact, he wants to reunite the original cast for old times’ sake:

“I want everybody. I want Travolta for a cameo, I want Gabe Kaplan for a cameo. I want Epstein, Horshack, Washington. If they do [make the movie], I want ’em in.”

Source: MTV Movies