Will Smith may be the world’s biggest movie star, but he’s still chasing that elusive Oscar. Nominated twice and coming up empty-handed, Smith has set his sights on the next awards-grabber and it isn’t the dreaded Oldboy remake (more on that at the bottom).
Smith is attached to star in Flowers for Algernon, a science fiction story that tugs at your heart strings based on the beloved 1959 novel by Daniel Keyes. According to Pajiba, the movie is being set up at Sony Pictures and Smith will produce under his Overbrook Entertainment banner.
Gabriele Muccino, director of Smith’s latest two Oscar bids (Seven Pounds and The Pursuit of Happyness), may direct.
In the story I was forced to read in school, Algernon is a lab mouse subjected to experimental surgery to increase its intelligence. The protagonist is Charlie, a mentally disabled man and the first human test subject for the same procedure.
I say this is an obvious Oscar grab because Will Smith is playing a mentally-challenged character, the oldest trick in the “I need respect in the business” book. But if we learned anything from Tropic Thunder (other than to watch where you step in the jungle), it’s that you never go full retard. Of course, Charlie’s IQ eventually triples, so Smith has the opportunity to play the full spectrum.
Now for the great news. Smith and Steven Spielberg’s remake of Oldboy is officially dead. Latino Review learned Mandate and Spielberg’s DreamWorks “didn’t see eye to eye” on the concept and eventually parted ways. Both top talents have walked. Whew, we dodged that bullet.
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