Why Will Smith is making a movie based on a DVD bonus feature: “I can’t tell you any more”
To say Will Smith has had a turbulent few years would be like saying Jeff Bezos has a few quid lying about the place or that Garfield ‘quite likes’ lasagna. His astonishing 2022 Oscars ceremony slap on fellow comic Chris Rock echoed around the world with a collective ‘My God, did that just happen’ and he’s been trying to dig his way out of it ever since.
Add that to tearful interviews sitting next to his wife while she talks about her boyfriend, turning down parts in genuine classics, a poorly reviewed comeback single, and some upcoming gigs in the salubrious surroundings of the likes of Scarborough and Wolverhampton, and it all makes for worrying times for the former Fresh Prince.
It wasn’t always this way, of course. From the mid-1990s to around 2010, Will Smith was one of, if not the biggest, movie stars in the world. He was the towering figure at the centre of blockbusters like Independence Day, Men in Black, I, Robot and Bad Boys, spawning sequels left, right and centre and bringing in more than $10billion at the box office.
Handsome, funny and versatile, he even managed to appear in the likes of bizarre steampunk flop Wild Wild West without it doing much damage to his bankability. He even proved he could do serious roles just as effectively, with his performance in boxing biopic Ali earning him an Academy Award nomination – something he also picked up alongside a Golden Globe nomination for the lead role in 2006’s tearjerker The Pursuit of Happyness.
Even as recently as 2019, his turn as the genie in the live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin brought in over a billion in ticket sales and perhaps, surprisingly, ranks as his most successful movie of all time.
But then came the slap. The slap that nobody saw coming, least of all Chris Rock. It was the live-on-TV-open-hander that apparently has since cost Smith billions in lost revenue, plus movie roles, decreased charity earnings, and reported layoffs at his production company. It’s fair to say it was not a good idea, at the least.
But Smith is not one to be put off by the prospect of a comeback, nor is he one to just lie down and take all the grief that’s (probably deservedly) come his way. He is putting his energy into that aforementioned rap comeback, plus he has some 15 different projects on which he is currently listed as a producer.
One of those is the sequel to his 2007 smash I Am Legend, the horror-thriller set in a post-apocalyptic New York City in which Smith wanders around the deserted ‘Big Apple’ with a German Shepherd getting hunted down by mutants. Seemingly in development for many years already, now, I Am Legend 2 is still on the table, and Smith has held promising meetings with Sinners star Michael B Jordan about getting the movie made.
And those conversations were prompted by a DVD extra from the original movie, in which Smith’s character Robert Neville (who, spoiler alert, dies a fiery death at the end of I Am Legend) is seen alive and well in an alternative ending.
”We’re going with the mythology of the DVD version where my character lived,” said Smith. ”I can’t tell you any more, but Michael B Jordan is in and we’re doing it”.
It seems the pair have continued to spend time on the project with Smith adding, “We had a couple [of] weeks together about a month ago. I think it’s looking good. [We have some] really solid ideas… I think we’re going to make it on screen together. That dude is the truth, so I would love to do that.”
It’s thought that the original movie writer, Akiva Goldsman, will return to helm the script for the sequel, but no word on potential cast members as yet, although you can assume Smith will be heavily onscreen.
It remains to be seen if Will Smith will ever get back to the kind of popularity he used to enjoy. But his contribution to film and entertainment in general, so far, certainly can’t be overlooked.
