EXCLUSIVE: Disney is circling with Will Smith to star for director Tim Burton in Dumbo, the live-action adaptation of the classic 1941 animated film. The studio is moving aggressively toward a production start with a script by Ehren Kruger about the big-eared, lovable elephant. This is an intriguing family film option for Smith, who is also working toward a start date with Sony Pictures on Bad Boys For Life, a reteam with Martin Lawrence which has Joe Carnahan directing his script.
A number of hurdles would have to be overcome here, but the Disney live-action transfer of its animation library has generated the kind of hits that are good for any star’s resume. Smith, whose latest film, Collateral Beauty, opened in the holiday onslaught and didn’t connect with audiences, would be joining Burton, whose last fairy tale adaptation Alice In Wonderland grossed $1.02 billion (Burton didn’t direct the sequel misfire)
Smith would join a parade of big stars who’ve starred in these Disney films, who have included Angelina Jolie in Maleficent, Johnny Depp in Alice, with Emma Stone to star as 101 Dalmations villainess Cruella De Ville and Dwayne Johnson aligned with Jungle Cruise. Stay tuned on this.
Smith has been shooting Bright, the Max Landis-scripted, David Ayer-directed Netflix film he stars in with Joel Edgerton.
Emma Stone as Cruella? Is she gonna lisp the animals to death?
More to the point, Cruella is supposed to be middle-aged; Stone isn’t even 30 yet. That’s just nuts. And no doubt she won’t have her signature cigarette holder, because at Disney, blowing up entire cities is fine as long as nobody’s smoking.
I think it’s an origin story.
Oh. Well, if that’s so, then objection withdrawn. :-)
Please no…these studios need to accept Will Smith is not a star anymore and doesn’t put butts in seats. Collateral Beauty was yet another bomb from him. The theater going audience has spoken and they don’t care about him anymore.
Is he playing the mouse?
Who would he possibly play? A CGI mouse? Or Dumbo himself?
Kinda funny since he always makes jokes about his own ears!
don’t do it Disney
Come on, Smith’s ears are big, but they’re not THAT big!
No Will! It’s a trap! Don’t do it!
Good fit with the ears, but he’ll need a longer nose.
A remake?
Ugh. I’ve got a better idea: market it as a biographical film about the life of Don “Dumbo” J. Trump.
You can even have orangutans as co-stars.
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Coat
That movie would be YUUUUUGE.
I mean yes, his big ears kinda stick out, but really I can’t see Will Smith playing Dumbo.
He’s not playing Dumbo lol
Let me guess: It’s a darker, eccentric take on the classic tale, with Johnny Depp eventually playing the title role of ‘Dumbo’ in never-seen-before human/animal makeup and costuming. As for Will Smith, he’ll drop out.
Jesus.
Smith does have Dumbo’s ears
Will needs to stop with the dramas and go back to doing comedy. Like Fresh Prince of Bel Air & Hitch. That’s what made him a star because that is where he shines! :)
What the fudge has happened to the movie business?