Some of Will Smith’s upcoming projects have reportedly been paused amid the fallout from his Oscars controversy.
The actor stunned millions when videos surfaced of when he slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s haircut.
This comes after Smith resigned from the Academy after they launched an investigation into his assault on the night’s presenter.
Will Smith’s Netflix movie and Bad Boys 4 put on hold
An upcoming Will Smith Netflix film and a movie for Sony have been put on hold, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
For the Netflix movie, Fast and Loose, the director David Leitch pulled out a week before the Oscars ceremony.
Instead, he opted for the Universal project, a movie titled Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling.
Netflix moved to quickly find another director to take over a film featuring Smith but soon quietly shelved the project after Smith’s on-stage attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.
Fast and Loose was about a crime boss who loses his memory after an attack. “Piecing together clues, he discovers he has led a double identity as a wealthy kingpin and a broke CIA agent,” per THR.
The 53-year-old actor was also set to star in Bad Boys 4 at Sony Pictures, and the movie was reportedly in “active development.”
Smith received 40 pages of the script before the Oscars, but a source tells THR that the project has been put on ice.
Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the board of directors deciding how to respond to his attack on Chris Rock.
He offered another apology to Chris, the Academy, and all those affected by his actions in the lengthy statement.
Smith concluded the statement with the following: “Change takes time, and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”
Will Smith set to star in Apple TV+ movie
Smith is set to appear in Apple+’s slave escape movie Emancipation which is in post-production.
The streamer had planned a 2022 debut but has not dated its release.
In the movie, Smith portrays a slave named Peter who escapes from his plantation after almost being whipped to death.
Emancipation is based on the true story of escaped slave Gordon, also known as Whipped Peter, whose image of his scarred back was widely published.
Steven Ogg, Ben Foster, Charmain Bingwa, and Grant Harvey also starred in the movie alongside Smith.
Apple+ scheduled the release of the movie for 2022, but a release date is yet to be announced.