Russell Brand developing "Arthur" remake

Russell Brand poses at the 13th annual GQ magazine ''Men of the Year'' party in Los Angeles November 18, 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Russell Brand might soon be caught between the moon and New York City.

The controversial comedian is developing a remake of "Arthur," the 1981 comedy that starred Dudley Moore, as a potential starring vehicle. He is meeting with scribes to write the screenplay for Warner Bros.

The original movie followed a boozy playboy rascal who is set to inherit a fortune if he marries an heiress his family thinks will make something out of him. However, he falls in love with a working-class woman and turns to his valet for help when his family makes him choose between money and love.

Moore was nominated for an Oscar as was Steve Gordon, the film's writer-director. John Gielgud won the Oscar for his supporting role as the valet, and the movie's theme song, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," sung by Christopher Cross, won for original song.

Brand already has a rascally reputation, not only for his past sex-, drugs- and alcohol-infused lifestyle but also for on-air radio pranks that recently led him to being suspended by the BBC. He subsequently resigned.

American audiences got their first taste of Brand in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," in which he played a rock star lothario. He next appears with Adam Sandler in "Bedtime Stories," which opens on Christmas Day.

Brand is filming Julie Taymor's adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," and will reunite his "Marshall" cohorts for "Get Him to the Greek."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter