Sometimes projects ping the news radar, only to vanish again just as quickly. Case in point: the adaptation of Marcus Sakey's sci-fi novel Brilliance, which Will Smith circled in 2014. That didn't work out, but it's now set up at Paramount and Smith is once again considering starring.
The film would also see him working again with writer/producer Akiva Goldsman, with the pair collaborating on I, Robot, I Am Legend and Hancock. Brilliance adapts Sakey's book, set in a world where one per cent of children are born as savants with special powers. Called “brilliants” – many of them have gone on to do incredible things.
But, naturally, there are a few bad seeds, including one who has turned his powers to terrorism. Smith would play Nick Cooper, a federal agent, and another of the brilliants, who is using his skills to hunt down rogue members of his society, who are looking to incite a civil war. Since the original report, Sakey has published the two sequel novels, A Better World and Written In Fire, so there is material for follow-up movies. Now the challenge will be to find a director.
Smith will be back on our screens in Gemini Man, due out on 11 October, followed by Bad Boys For Life on 17 January.