As reported in Variety, the Weinstein Company is packaging a remake of Intouchables, a French movie (itself an adaptation of a book) which made a killing at the box office last year. Intouchables (photo) was in fact the third biggest-selling movie ever in France.

I’m curious whether the title will cause any problems for American audiences, who might easily think this is a remake of Brian De Palma’s 1987 The Untouchables movie, starring Kevin Costner.

Intouchables, the Gallic version, holds a very different narrative. A wheelchair-bound millionaire (think The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) finds an aide and a compagnon in the figure of a thug from the inner city and both mens’ lives are changed forever. It’s the kind of story that pumps you full of optimism if you didn’t have any to start with.

No wonder the Weinstein Company wanted to be the first one to set up the movie. It’s a great a story. As to whether it will do well with American audiences, I’m guessing yay: the story has universal appeal and the social issues it typifies are very much newsworthy.

Paul Feig has been tapped to direct.