Will Smith has been out of the spotlight for the better part of the past year. The incident involving host Chris Rock sullied and overshadowed Smith’s first Academy Award for his performance in King Richard.
Recently, the actor returned to the public eye with Emancipation, his latest film before the aforementioned awards show, as several high-profile projects involving Smith were put on hold after the incident.
Now that the public outrage has died down, Smith is back slowly getting back on track. The actor bagged his first casting after the unfortunate event.
According to an unnamed source, Smith will be reprising his role as the Genie in the upcoming Disney movie Aladdin 2. The movie is a sequel to 2019’s Aladdin which became Smith’s most successful film, earning over $1 billion at the box office.
"This would be one of the first movies Will has shot since the Oscars slap and it is quite surprising, given that it will be for a kids’ film," the source revealed to The Sun. "He has done a lot of work on himself and the consensus is that it will all be very much in the past by the time the movie is released."
They added, "The first film was a huge success so it would be silly not to make another, and it would be a real shame to have to re-cast Will over what happened. So Disney is keen to stand by him and bring him back into the fold."
The choice to recast Smith to the role of Genie may be a double-edged sword for Disney. It would have been a PR nightmare for the studio if the part was given to another actor given that Smith has already returned to the film industry with Emancipation.
However, there may be fans of the movie that will not be patronizing the sequel because of Smith. Emancipation was a box-office bomb despite the movie being one of Smith’s best performances to date. The actor was reportedly upset that the film did not do well at the box office.
"Will knows it's a long road to redemption and a lot of folks won't forgive him," an insider revealed. "But this really rams it home."
Emancipation was also snubbed at the Academy Awards. The slave drama failed to receive an Academy Award nomination despite receiving positive reviews from critics.
Smith is also reportedly in talks to reprise his role as Alex "Hitch" Hitchens in a sequel to the 2005 film Hitch. The actor was also set to return in an I am Legend sequel prior to the slapping incident. It isn't clear if Smith will still reprise his role for the highly anticipated sequel.
Disney hasn't confirmed Smith’s casting as the Genie in Aladdin 2 as of writing.
