UPDATED, 3:29 PM: Universal this afternoon confirmed the title of its Will Packer-Malcolm D. Lee film starring Regina Hall as Girl Trip and dated it for August 11, 2017.
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: Regina Hall, who was most recently seen in the fan favorite Barbershop: The Next Cut, has been set to star in the yet untitled Girl’s Trip project for Will Packer Productions which is set up at Universal with Malcolm D. Lee directing. Lee came aboard early on before the project even had a writer. Those writers are now hired and they are Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, the same screenwriters of Lee’s Barbershop: The Next Cut which was released in April with a high 92% from Rotten Tomatoes and an A- CinemaScore. Barris is also the creator of the hit comedy Black-ish and is currently adapting the iconic 70’s TV show Good Times for the big screen.
So this should be another solid movie, especially given that Packer has already produced eight number one films including Ride Along 2 (2016), No Good Deed (2014), Think Like A Man Too (2014), Ride Along (2014), Think Like A Man (2012), Takers (2010), Obsessed (2008) and Stomp The Yard (2007).
James Lopez, head of motion pictures for Will Packer Productions, will executive produce the new, untitled Girl Trip project which is about four lifelong friends who travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival and rediscover their sisterhoods and wild sides – enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush
Hall will next be seen opposite Morris Chestnut in the Screen Gems thriller When The Bough Breaks which debuts on Sept. 16. Two months later, on November 11, another Packer film debuts — Almost Christmas which stars Gabrielle Union and Danny Glover.
The producer is also a powerhouse on the TV as he is executive producing ABC’s Uncle Buck (debuting on June 14), but also — more importantly — the remake of Roots which will bring the history of African Americans in America to an entirely new generation. The event series will air simultaneously on The History Channel, A&E and Lifetime networks on Memorial Day.
Lee also directed Best Man Holiday for Universal which has grossed about $72.8M worldwide.
Hall and Oliver are both repped by ICM and Principato Young Entertainment. Lee is repped by Paradigm. Barris is represented by CAA and Principato-Young. Packer is represented by CAA and law firm Ziffren Brittenham.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.