Netflix Is Now Canceling An Upcoming Will Smith Movie
Netflix looks like it is going to be canceling an upcoming movie that was set to have Will Smith in the lead role. The hits keep on coming
This article is more than 2 years old
For Will Smith, it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. Since last Sunday’s Academy Awards that saw him walk on stage and slap Chris Rock, the superstar has had some pretty predictable fallout from the incident. And it wouldn’t appear the negative news cycle is going to stop anytime soon. If anything, we could be gearing up to talk about what happened at the Oscars for years to come with the ramifications spidering out into a number of different areas of Hollywood. The latest news on this front is that Netflix is pumping the brakes on an upcoming film that was set to have Will Smith in the starring role.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Netflix movie Fast and Loose has now been shuttered for the time being and it’s unclear if, or when, it will ever come back. Even if it doesn’t, there’s no telling whether Will Smith will be attached. Such is the nature of what’s happening for the actor right now with a number of his upcoming productions now very much in doubt. There had also been speculation that Bad Boys 4 was going into pause mode as well with the studio likely wanting to see how this all plays out for Will Smith.
Fast and Loose was originally supposed to have David Leitch in the director’s chair, the film that was set to follow up this year’s Bullet Train with Brad Pitt. But the THR reporting has it that the director had pulled out of the film prior to the Academy Awards on Sunday night and Netflix was scrambling to find someone new to helm the flick. The log lines have Fast and Loose as a story about Will Smith as John Riley, a mobster who gets amnesia, links back up with his criminal organization only to find things changed in a mysterious way. As of this writing, no other casting decisions had been made for the film.
But after Sunday, Netflix doesn’t look like they’ll be moving forward with Will Smith on this one in a quiet move that could be the sign of more negative things to come for the actor. And along these lines, one now needs to wonder if Netflix’s other movie with Will Smith, Bright 2, could also be pushed back or even canned for the time being. Again, these are precarious times for the actor and those who want to be in the Will Smith business. We know this kind of thing never lasts forever, far from it. But right now it’s obvious why studios are keeping things at arm’s length.
Of course, this all stems from Will Smith walking up on stage and slapping Chris Rock last Sunday after the latter cracked a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense. Will Smith went on to win the Best Actor Award for his star turn in King Richard, but on Friday officially resigned from the Academy after apologizing to both the organization as well as to Chris Rock. There is surely more to come here and Will Smith has another movie, The Council, in pre-production. If these other pieces of news are any indication, that one could be on the ropes as well.
