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Will it be enough to win back the people's hearts?
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Jun 13, 2022
Will Smith has been awfully silent since that fateful day on March 27, 2022, when he walked up on stage after Chris Rock told a tasteless joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and slapped him in the face for it.
While we’ve heard reports of rehab and career-ending ayahuasca visions, the ‘I Am Legend’ star hasn’t made many headlines and is likely to remain on Hollywood’s blacklist for a while — the Oscars’ for a decade — unless he has something to say about it.
Will Smith is currently producing an ‘I Am Legend’ sequel to stage his acting comeback.
American multimedia venture company founded by Will and Jada, Westbrook Studios, will be spearheading the ‘I Am Legend 2’ project while Will lays out the framework for what the movie will be.
“The movie,” reveals The Sun, “will see Smith reprise his role as scientist Robert Neville fighting for survival and a cure for zombies in post-apocalyptic New York City.”
According to insiders, screenwriter and Oscar-winner, Akiva Goldsman, will be including Smith's character from the original in the follow-up movie.
With a $150 million budget, the first film nearly quadrupled at the box offices, giving Smith international acclaim despite mixed critic reviews.
A sequel to the beloved feature film would be the most ideal way for an estranged actor to make his return.
The same source revealed that while Warner Brother Studios has yet to sign off on a script, they have not barred Smith's entry into the sequel, giving producers, including Will himself, hope that they will get the green light.
"The script is being written mentioning his character and as of yet, Will remains attached to the project,” they said. “The concept is still to be signed off by Warner Brothers, but there has been no indication that Will is off the project.”
In the meantime, the movie will continue to be developed without funding from Warner Brother Studios, hoping to get picked up by another studio if they decide they don’t want to take the flak from giving Smith screentime.
"Obviously he is the producer of the film and his production company is in charge while the development continues,” they continued. "The reality is that Will will make a comeback at some point and it will be simply down to which studio will be the one to take a chance on him.”
No one stays canceled forever, and the insider claimed that negative sentiments toward Smith have reduced recently since the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial took the news by storm.
While opinions on Smith's slap do still happen to be mixed, everyone loves a good comeback story.
"Certainly Hollywood loves comeback stories where stars seemingly done with the business bounce back with a big project such as with Robert Downey Jr, Mel Gibson, Drew Barrymore, and Winona Ryder,” they explained, hoping that Smith would soon join that list with this new project.
But while things are being set in motion and talks are being held behind closed doors, Smith continues “undergoing therapy” and “taking time away from the limelight.”
"In two years' time things could look very different,” they said, “and Will could return to the screen.”
He just won’t be coming back to the Oscars any time soon.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or playing a fictional sport. Keep up with his rants about current events on Twitter.