A pair of Hollywood’s most iconic classic films will be undergoing “diverse” reboots at the hands of Hollywood writer Kenya Barris, who has planned to change main characters to a “person a color.”

Barris has written or directed many race-centric titles since 2020, including TV shows “#BlackAF” and “Black-ish” and films “You People” and the remake of “White Men Can’t Jump.”

Barris’ next ventures are reportedly a reimagining of two industry classics: “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

[As long as identity and ideology aren’t the point, give it a shot. However, “The Wizard of Oz” *has* been remade and revamped for an all-black cast. “The Wiz” was a very successful Broadway show, but the 1978 film didn’t do very good box office, perhaps in part because it cast Diana Ross as a 24-year-old Dorothy when audiences expected an adolescent Dorothy instead. It did produce a big musical hit, “Ease On Down the Road,” which I can still hear in my head as I write this. The problem with these kinds of re-imaginings based on identity is that identity becomes the focus rather than good story-telling. The same thing happened with Marlo Thomas’ 1977 attempt at a feminist “It’s a Wonderful Life,” renamed “It Happened One Christmas” and made for TV. It’s usually better to just imagine new stories. — Ed]