Will Smith has lined up another hot title to his list of upcoming projects, having signed up to lead the cast of high-octane action thriller “Sugar Bandits.”
based on the Chuck Hogan book “Devils in Exile,” the thriller centres on an Iraq War veteran who teams up with a crew of fellow vets to target the drug trade in Boston. Hogan —whose writing credits include “The Town” and “The Strain” (which he co-wrote with Guillermo del Toro) —penned the screenplay.
AGC International and CAA Media Finance represent the film’s worldwide distribution rights and will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming EFM.
Smith and Jon Mone will produce through Westbrook Studioswith Ryan Shimazaki overseeing; Stuart Ford will produce for AGC Studios, which is fully financing the film; and Richard Abate (“13 Hours,” “From Scratch”) will produce for 3 Arts Entertainment.
“Sugar Bandits” marks the latest film for Smith, whose last major feature —and the first since his infamous Oscars slap —was Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation,” which sold to Apple TV+ in Cannes for a market record deal of $120 million, but failed to make a significant impact on launch. He also has the untitled fourth “Bad Boys” film, which is still in production, alongside the upcoming sequel to Zombie hit “I Am Legend,” which is set to co-star Michael B. Jordan and see Smith reprise his role from the 2007 original (but use the alternate ending scene in the DVD in which he character lives).
“Sugar Bandits” was first announced back in 2013 with Universal developing the feature.
Smith is represented by CAA.Hogan is represented by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment. The European Film Market runs from Feb. 15-21, alongside the Berlin Film Festival which kicks off Feb.15 with the world premiere of “Small Things Like These” starring Cillian Murphy.
Elsa Keslassy contribued to this report.
