After the 2022 Academy Awards slapgate fiasco, it appears that Will Smith’s career is slowly getting back on track, and he has some really fascinating projects in the works for the near future
Will Smith is unquestionably one of the greatest stars in the entertainment industry these days. The artist, who has been active for more than 30 years, began his career as a rapper in the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince in the 1980s, and he rose to worldwide fame in 1990 thanks to the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, an Andy and Susan Borowitz production in which he played a fictionalised version of himself for six seasons.
Will pursued an acting career after the show's enormous popularity, focusing his efforts on film productions. Over the years, he has been in a wide range of films, including Men in Black, Ali, and Disney's live-action Aladdin, to mention a few.
However, an unhappy incident only a year later overshadowed that magnificent moment: at the 2022 Academy Awards, Smith was embroiled in a scandal after slapping presenter Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head.
As a result, the Academy barred the actor from participating in the event for the next ten years. To make matters worse, several of the projects that the actor had in the works at the time were cancelled as a result of the incident, and he opted to dwell on what had transpired. Still, it appears that his career is slowly resuming, and he has some extremely exciting initiatives in the works for the near future. Check them out:
Bad Boys 4
The creation of Bad Boys 4, the title of which has yet to be revealed. Smith and Lawrence will return to lead the ensemble, which will also include Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, and others. This production is expected to be completed on June 14, 2024.
Fast and Loose
Fast and Loose is one of the films that was affected by the fallout from Smith's Academy Award incident. This Netflix action film was planned to start production in early-2022, with Smith in the lead role, but after what happened, it was placed on hold for a while to avoid being associated with the problem.
Nonetheless, despite the lack of information, Fast and Loose is still in development and scheduled for release in the near future. The actor is slated to play a criminal who suffers memory loss after an incident and later realises that he has been living a double life as a crime lord and an undercover CIA agent in this film.
I Am Legend 2
I Am Legend 2 is most likely Will Smith's most anticipated future picture. Despite the fact that rumours of a sequel have been denied multiple times, this episode will be released in theatres more than 15 years after the original picture. I Am Legend 2 was formally announced in 2022, with Smith returning his role and Michael B. Jordan directing.
Although Smith has several exciting projects in the works for the foreseeable future, there are a few ventures that have been cancelled owing to the fallout from the Academy Awards or other events. However, there was no further news regarding this production, which was eventually cancelled.