Will Smith Is Teaming With Deadpool 2’s Director
Will Smith has a new action film in the works.
This article is more than 2 years old
A bidding war has started, and this is exactly the music to Will Smith and Deadpool 2’s director David Leitch’s ears they want to hear.
The war that has started comes from scribes Jon and Eric Hoeber (Red, Meg) who’s script Fast & Loose wasn’t big on the battle list until Smith came on board. Leitch was initially attached to the film as it was being developed by STXfilms, but only as a producer, so when he also signed on as director, interest in the project was piqued. It virtually blew up once the decision was made to shop the movie to studios and streamers.
Right now, sources say that all the big players are in the hunt for this project. Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, and Sony are the big studios who are showing great interest, while the big-name streamers such as Netflix and HBO Max have tossed their hat into the ring also. Along with Leitch, partner Kelly McCormick will be producing through their 87North shingle while Smith, his co-president Jon Mone, and head of motion pictures James Lassiter will be producing through Westbrook Studios.
There are no other stars attached as the movie is, obviously, in its early stages of development but the logline describing the film sets this film up to be a potentially big money-maker, hence the bidding war. The logline, per Deadline, is as follows: After the leader of an upper-echelon criminal organization suffers memory loss from an attack, he reunites with his crew, only to find that things aren’t what he thinks they are. When John Riley (Smith) wakes up in Tijuana after being left for dead with absolutely no memory, he follows a string of clues to uncover his identity discovering he’s been living two different lives: one, as a super-successful crime kingpin, surrounded by beautiful women, expensive toys, and a lavish lifestyle and the other as an undercover CIA agent, but with a puny salary, no family or home life whatsoever, and zero trappings of success. The problem is, he can’t remember which of these two personas is his true identity, and, more importantly, which life he really wants to live.
Before Leitch and Smith can begin on Fast & Loose, the two need to sort out their busy schedules. Leitch’s 87North remains busy as he is working on Bullet Train, a directing project for Leitch that stars Brad Pitt and Zazie Beetz. Other projects Leitch is working on include The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling, Nobody, which sees Bob Odenkirk leading and is also 87North’s first produced film under their first-look deal they signed with Universal Pictures. Leitch is also working on the Netflix thriller Kate, which sees Woody Harrelson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead starring.
As far as Will Smith goes, his calendar is just as packed. After starring in last year’s hit film and reunion with co-star Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys For Life, Smith has quite a few projects lined up. He’ll be starring in King Richard, playing Richard Williams, the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams. He is then starring in another sports drama called Redd Zone alongside his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith is also teaming up with director Antoine Fuqua for their runaway slave drama titled Emancipation. Also waiting in the wings are the features The Council, Smith’s science fiction sequel Bright 2, and a recently announced return as Mike Lowery in Bad Boys 4.
All of this also comes from the recent announcement that Will Smith and Kevin Hart are set to team up on the remake of John Hughes’ Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The announcement of the remake prompted Hart to comment to Entertainment Tonight, “Me and Will have been talking about doing a movie for the longest time and we just [couldn’t] put our finger on what that movie was,” he said to ET. “So, for us to get to a point where we agree that said material was our project — because our personalities not only fit, but we could really pop in this situation — it was just a no-brainer.” He continued on, “Remaking this movie is something we are excited about… We can’t wait to do it. The studio’s happy and it’s about rolling my sleeves up and getting the script to where it’s supposed to be.”
It remains to be seen how long it will take Smith and Leitch to get Fast & Loose off the ground. First things first though, the movie will need to find a home and with all the big players involved, there is no telling where the project will end up or for how much it will sell. One thing for certain, a bidding war is what Smith and Leitch wanted. As more information comes out as to who the highest bidder will be, GFR will pass it along.
