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Thompson Living Large as 'Fat Albert'
Wed Mar 10, 1:23 AM ET Add Movies - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Chris Gardner

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Fat Albert" is alive and kicking.



Kenan Thompson, former star of Nickelodeon's "Kenan and Kel" and now in theaters with "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" is the new leading man in the adaptation of Bill Cosby (news)'s famed CBS cartoon, "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids."


The 20th Century Fox film follows Fat Albert and his posse of friends, who come to life when they walk out of the cartoon and into the real world. The film will start with animation, move into live-action and end in the animated world.


The project is gearing up for a mid-April start with a cast that also includes Omarion of B2K fame as Reggie, Raven-Symone ("That's So Raven") in the animated part of Danielle, Jermaine Williams ("ER") as Mush Mouth, Jeremy Suarez ("Brother Bear") in the animated role of Russell and Aaron Frazier as Weird Harold.


Director Joel Zwick ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") will direct the project he boarded nearly a year ago.


Thompson steps into a role once filled by newcomer Omar Benson Miller. Miller was to topline with Forest Whitaker (news) at the helm in early 2002. However, that package fell apart because of a conflict of visions between Whitaker and Cosby, who created the characters.


With Zwick on board, the filmmakers went back to Thompson who had screen tested the first time around with Whitaker, sources said. Cosby co-wrote the original draft of the screenplay, and will serve as a producer.


Thompson is the most recent addition to the cast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," and his first impression on the Lorne Michaels series was of Cosby. His other credits include "Love Don't Cost a Thing," "Good Burger" and "All That."


Reuters/Hollywood Reporter