Chris Rock to Direct Remake of Mads Mikkelsen's Oscar-Winning Another Round

Comedian Chris Rock is set to direct an English-language remake of Another Round, Mads Mikkelsen's Academy Award-winning 2020 film about a group of teachers who decide to drink on the job. Released in other territories under the title Drunk, the movie earned $21 million off a reported budget of around $5 million. Rock, best known as a comedian and actor, has written, produced, or directed a number of movies and shows. He followed his directorial debut, Head of State, with I Think I Love My Life five years later, and then To Five. In the years since, he has been attached to a number of projects, including a Kevin Hart comedy and a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic.

Deadline, which first reported the story, doesn't confirm that Rock will write, but it seems likely the four-time Emmy winner and three-time Grammy winner will adapt the original screenplay from Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm. In the film, a group of restless teachers seize on a theory that alcohol provokes creativity, and set out to test it by drinking throughout the day. The Danish film won Best International Feature Film at the Oscars (in a rarity for an international release, Vinterberg was nominated for Best Director). Another Round took home four European Film Awards, including Best Film, and got the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language.

Rock rose to stardom in the 1990s, with a string of popular stand-up comedy specials and roles in projects like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Dogma. He has since remained one of the most popular and respected voices in comedy, while adding producing and directing to his resume. He directed and starred in 2003's Head of State, which envisioned him as the first Black president of the United States; 2007's I Think I Love My Wife, which saw Rock star opposite Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi, and Edward Herrmann; and 2014's Top Five, which was far and away his best-reviewed directorial effort.

During that time, Rock starred in the Madagascar franchise, tried his hand at revitalizing the flagging SAW series, and created the popular TV series Everybody Hates Chris. Last year, he released Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, his first standup special since he was assaulted onstage at the Academy Awards. He also appeared in David O. Russell's Amsterdam. Besides reportedly developing a movie based on Jonathan Eig's biography, King: A Life, Rock also appeared in Rustin, another biopic set during the Civil Rights Movement, which stars Fear the Walking Dead's Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.

An animated follow-up to Everybody Hates Chris, titled Everybody Still Hates Chris, is in development at Paramount+.