We’re nearly a week post-#TheSlap, and it was inevitable there would be repercussions. Yes, Will Smith has resigned from The Academy which helps his duck some fallout, but some of the projects he has coming up were sure to be in jeopardy. And yep, so here they go falling by the wayside.
According to THR, multiple projects with studios and streamers are either going bye-by or being put on hold developers reconsider whether they want to be associated with Smith. Dude has become toxic real quick. The biggest project is Netflix’s double-identity thriller Fast & Loose, which would’ve seen Smith paired with Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. The filmmaker has now backed out of the film altogether in order to focus on Fall Guy with Ryan Reynolds, which begins shooting in August.
The other big one is Bad Boys 4, which Sony is in no hurry to get moving on now. Smith had already begun reading pages from the script prior to the Oscars, but that’s going to be put on ice for the timebeing.
Next up for Smith is Emancipation, Antoine Fuqua’s slavery drama for Apple that many see as a potential Oscar contender. We’ll see about that. If Smith’s reputation can be rehabilitated in time, then maybe. If not, who knows where things stand for him.
