It’s been three years since Will Smith, on the night he won his first Academy Award for his performance in “King Richard,” changed his career forever (and for the worse) by slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage. In the immediate aftermath, Smith was banned from the Oscars ceremony for 10 years, and he’s spent years rehabilitating his public image, including most recently going back to his rap roots as The Fresh Prince.
Hollywood appears to have forgiven him.
Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and their company Westbrook have now signed a first-look deal with Paramount that will see Smith starring in and producing multiple features, ones the studio is labeling “global, four-quadrant theatrical movies.” Under the pact, Paramount has already announced two projects that are meant to star Smith and that the studio also hopes could be the start of new franchises. Westbrook will also get some fancy office space on the Paramount lot.
Related Stories
First up for Smith is “Sugar Bandits,” which is based on the book “Devils in Exile” by author Chuck Hogan. The film was previously set up at Universal but Paramount has acquired all rights and have it in development, an individual with knowledge told IndieWire. Hogan is the author of “Prince of Thieves,” which later became Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” and “Devils in Exile,” originally published in 2010, is the story of an Iraq War veteran who begins running jobs ripping off drug dealers in Boston. And the second project is “Rabbit Hole,” which is an original screenplay being written by “Dune” scribe Jon Spaihts, though no details on that one just yet.
It’s a major opportunity and major shift in the industry perception of Smith, who did star in 2024’s “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and has still proven to be a bankable star with that film (it made $404 million worldwide), but between a few films put into development with old collaborators like Michael Bay and some other notable projects set up at Westbrook, saying he’s taken a step back is an understatement.
Paramount, which has flashy new owners in Skydance, has been aggressively making deals with big names to bolster its film roster, all par for the course for a new regime looking to make a name for themselves. It won a bid for a James Mangold project that would reunite him with Timothée Chalamet, it recently wrenched the Duffer Brothers away from Netflix to produce and direct films, series, and streaming properties, and it also this week inked a deal with video game developer Activision to bring the massive “Call of Duty” franchise to the screen.
Smith is just another feather in their cap and proof that David Ellison and company aren’t going to be shy about taking a few big swings.
