Will Smith has lined up another hot title to his list of upcoming projects, having signed up to lead the cast of “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.
The film is being launched by AGC at the European Film Market. AGC represents the film’s international distribution rights while CAA Media Finance, which arranged financing for the film, represents the domestic rights.
“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 repped by CAA. 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.
