It used to be that any day he didn't have to use his AK was a good one for Ice Cube, but now the occasional rapper is going to face his biggest challenge -- the Sweathogs.

Mr. Cube (O'Shea Jackson, if you prefer) will produce and star in a remake of the ABC comedy classic "Welcome Back, Kotter" for Dimension Films.

Either New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is set to writer and direct or else those duties will actually go to the other Tom Brady, whose writing credits include "The Hot Chick" and "The Animal." Fans of the '70s original can root for the Super Bowl MVP.

"Kotter," which premiered on ABC in 1975, featured Gabe Kaplan (not to be confused with Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler) as a Brooklyn-born teacher who returned to his run-down old high school to teach a remedial class of tough cases known as "sweathogs." The series also featured Ron Palillo as the immortal Arnold Horshack and Jon Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino.

"We were skeptical about selling 'Kotter' because making a great movie from a TV show can be challenging," says Kaplan, who co-created the show and resisted selling the remake rights for a long time. "After meeting with the Weinsteins, we knew they were the right ones to bring this project -- which has been beloved by so many people over the years -- to the big screen."

No word on whether or not Ice Cube will do a new version of John Sebastian's theme song, but what's the point if he doesn't?

"There was no bigger fan of the original show than me, and I'm very excited to be able to put a new twist on it," the "Friday" star says.

Ice Cube is in full remake mode, working on the "Are We There Yet?" sequel "Are We Done Yet?" which began life as a fresh version of "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."