German Rom-Com 'Men in the City' Gets Dutch Remake

COLOGNE, Germany - Men in the City, a German ensemble romantic comedy from director Simon Verhoeven, is getting a Dutch makeover.

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Dutch director Mark de Cloe has begun shooting on a local-language remake of the 2009 laffer, which featured a who's who of German male stars including Til Schweiger, Christian Ulmen, Florian David Fitz and Justus von Dohnanyi.

The Netherlands version boasts an ensemble cast of similar local heft, with Dutch stars Daan Schuurmans, Barry Atsma, Jeroen Spitzenberger, Teun Kuilboer and Fabian Jansen in the lead roles. Maarten Lebens, who wrote the screenplay for De Cloe's The Strongest Man in the Netherlands (2011) adapted Verhoeven's original German script.

Alain de Levita is producing the Dutch film, called Mannenharten (Men's Hearts) for NL Film Produkties for a planned November 2013 release through distributor Dutch Film Works.

As with the original, the Dutch version focuses on the varied love lives of five men who attend the same big-city gym. Verhoeven's film was a box office smash in Germany, grossing more than $20 million locally. A sequel, Men in the City 2, was also successful, earning around $13 million for distributor Warner Bros. Germany.