With a British comedian becoming popular and successful in America and particularly in Hollywood there seems to be only one thing to do for the studios, instead of casting him in newly created comedies that suit his style, they're remaking every British comedy they can find the rights for and throwing him in the lead.

Not only is Russell Brand set to play Arthur, taking over that role that Dudley Moore made so iconic, but Universal is now set to remake Drop Dead Fred and replace Rik Mayal with Russell Brand.

Now I have to say that I was surprised at how good Russell Brand was on screen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and it made me want to see him in more roles, but what it didn't make me want is to see the shallow thinking studio executives start picking out British comedies and remaking them to throw him in the lead because he's British.

That's just what seems to be happening though.

The Hollywood Reporter have the news that Dennis McNicholas, one of the writers of Land of the Lost, is writing this remake, and what's worse is that the British production company Working Title are backing the project.

The original film saw Phoebe Cates as a quiet, retiring woman who loses her job and her husband, and is forced to move back home all in the space of a day. With this trauma comes a startling surprise, her old imaginary friend from when she was a child returns and begins to cause havoc in an attempt to open her up and help her gain back her life. Of course what ensues is chaos as her friend is only after one thing, mayhem.

The imaginary friend was played by the highly regarded British comedian Rik Mayal, and he was superb on screen. It was a great fun film, but the problem was that it never was a huge commercial success, although it is one of those films that has gained a big following since.

I guess that is also the good news, for Drop Dead Fred is rather dated and some more modern concepts added in. It's not just about updating the cast. With it being an unsuccessful film on the balance sheets, which is really what the studio is looking at with the remake potential, there's the chance to make it a more successful one. Plus, the casting of Brand as an imaginary friend who just messes with your plans all the time and causes chaos does sound about right.

Another remake though?