Kevin Hart Teams Up With STX Productions On Two Comedies; Hart To Star In Both Films

Kevin Hart and STX Films are teaming up to produce two comedic films that Hart will also star in.

The new projects will be produced under STXfilms and Hart’s HartBeat Productions, Variety reports. The news comes after Hart’s successful performance in “The Upside,” a film he starred in alongside Bryan Cranston. The film earned a whopping $47 million in the first 11 days of release. 

“STX came in to make ‘The Upside’ the success it is. Their strategy, execution and collaborative approach are perfectly aligned with HartBeat Productions’ values,” said Hart. “It was an easy ‘yes’ when they pitched us two new ideas to produce together.”

The first film is titled “Black Friday” and is a body-switching comedy that is based on a story by Doan La. The second film has yet to be named but is said to be an international romantic comedy. Hart and John Cheng, HartBeat’s president of production, will produce both films. HartBeat’s Carli Haney will oversee with STXfilms’ Drew Simon. 

“It’s crystal clear audiences love Kevin, and they want to see him in a variety of roles,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman of STXfilms. “This partnership allows STXfilms to take the successful collaboration we started with ‘The Upside’ and extend it to new projects that further build on our mission to work with the best in the business to grow our profitable business model.”

Cheng added, “STX has a proven ability to tell crowd-pleasing, globally appealing stories in the mid-budget sweet spot. When they approached Kevin and me with pitches that we felt we could creatively sink our teeth into, we recognized we were in good hands with an innovative partner that would help us produce two funny and original films with the potential to reach audiences around the world.”