♫ Whooo is the man who will do what he can to direct the Shaft reboot for New Line? ♫ Story! Ya damn right. That’s Story as in Tim Story, the director of the Ride Along movies and frequent Kevin Hart collaborator. Story has reportedly signed on to helm that long-gestating reboot of the classic detective series — so how long before Kevin Hart signs on to play Shaft’s wise-cracking sidekick?

Deadline reports that Story has officially come aboard New Line’s reboot of Shaft, based on the iconic character originally played by Richard Roundtree in the classic 1971 film. The actor starred in two sequels and a short-lived CBS series, later reprising his role in 2000 for John Singleton’s reboot, which focused on Shaft’s nephew, played by Samuel L. Jackson.

New Line’s reboot is said to be a “legacyquel” that centers on the super-smooth detective’s son, who “finds himself navigating the gray terrain between the law and organized crime in New York City”; the hope is, of course, to launch a successful new Shaft franchise.

Last summer, New Line tapped Black-ish creator Kenya Barris to write a screenplay for the Shaft reboot alongside The Goldbergs producer Alex Barnow; it’s unclear if that script is still in play.

Story’s recent credits include Ride Along 2 and the stand-up documentary Kevin Hart: What Now?. He also directed the Think Like a Man films, 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, and is set to helm Humbug — a contemporary take on the classic Charles Dickens Christmas story in which Ice Cube plays Scrooge.

More From 96.5 KVKI