He’s busy working on remaking the musical classic “Annie,†but Will Smith already has yet another reboot in his sights: “The Wild Bunch.â€
Smith is currently in negotiations to star in and produce a revamped version of the 1969 classic western about a gang of aging outlaws set to pull off one final heist on the Mexican-American border in 1913. The reboot would be set in modern times, and focus on a disgraced DEA agent who pulls together a team to hunt down a Mexican drug lord -- and his money.
Warner Bros. and Smith's producing partner, Jerry Weintraub, have been trying to wrangle together a “Wild Bunch†remake for some time, most recently with director Tony Scott on board and a screenplay half-finished. But that plan was put on hold after Scott’s death last year, and now the filmmakers are looking for a new writer to pen the project.
The Wrap notes that Smith has never made a “proper western,†which is true. He infamously rebooted the 1960s television show “Wild Wild West†in 1999, and the film disappointed with critics and audiences alike, barely recouping its production costs at the box office. Considering “The Wild Bunchâ€â€™s iconic legacy -- the film starred many Hollywood heavyweights, including William Holden and Ernest Borgnine -- it may be difficult for Smith’s take to do it justice.
If he can resist the urge to record a single to soundtrack the new film, that’s already a step in the right direction.
