The original White Men Can’t Jump cast of 1992 included Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as two basketball players who join forces to hustle unsuspecting opponents on the court. The film was a modest success at the box office, grossing over three times its $31 million budget with over $90 million earned. In 2017, 20th Century Studios announced that Kenya Barris would write the script for the White Men Can’t Jump remake, with the production of NBA player Blake Griffin and former NFL player Ryan Kalil.
The White Men Can’t Jump remake had been in talks for years, but nothing came to fruition until last year when director Calmatic signed on. Soon after, rapper Jack Harlow was cast in a role similar to Billy Hoyle (played by Woody Harrelson originally), followed by Power star Sinqua Walls as Sidney Deane (originally played by Wesley Snipes). The remake’s cast also includes The Wire’s Lance Reddick, rapper Vince Staples, Teyana Taylor, Laura Harrier, Tamera Kissen, Myles Bullock,, Zak Steiner and Andrew Schulz.
The film, released in 1992, contains a well-known scene where Sidney mocks Billy for being unable to slam dunk. Brokenhearted, Billy bets $5000 of his tournament prize money on himself to prove Sidney wrong but fails despite three attempts. Later on, during a game, Billy proves himself when he catches an alley-oop pass from Sidney and dunks it home for the winning point. The White Men Can’t Jump remake will likely have a scene similar to this one, and based on Walls’ comments, Harlow should be dunking the basketball without having the hoop lowered like Harrelson.
