Arabic Remake of French Comedy Intouchables to Start Filming in Egypt

The Arabic remake of the 2011 French comedy ‘Intouchables’ will start filming in Egypt this May, after Egyptian screenwriter Amr El Daly and Egyptian/Franco-Lebanese director Jad Aouad partnered up with production company Front Row.

The original French film is considered a major blockbuster success, with revenue reaching USD 426.6 million dollars in international cinemas. The movie was ranked the third largest box office success in French history, which prompted an American remake of the movie in 2017, titled ‘The Upside’ and starring Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman.

The Egyptian remake will follow many of the same narrative beats, following a rich senior citizen and a less fortunate worker who becomes his caretaker. The two develop a strong relationship despite the socio-economic gap that divides them. The film will be Aouad’s first feature film following his award-winning career in advertising, where he worked alongside renowned talents such as Florent Emilio Siri, Pascal Dash, Diamentino Ferreira and famed Hollywood director Jan de Bont. El Daly, meanwhile, is best known as the brain behind popular series like ‘Dawaran Shubra’ and ‘B 100 Wesh.

This isn’t the first Arabic reimagining that Front Row is planning to produce, having recently announced a remake of Hollywood’ ‘A Perfect Stranger’, which will feature star Mona Zaki alongside Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki.