Will Smith and son Jaden Smith will co-star in an untitled sci-fi adventure movie to be directed by M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable”) for Sony Pictures.
The script was co-written by Shyamalan and Gary Whitta (“The Book of Eli”). It takes place 1,000 years in the future, where a boy (Jaden Smith) and his father (Will Smith) travel across a desolate, post-apocalyptic Earth looking for hope after their ship crash-landed there.
Shyamalan and Will Smith will produce with James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith and Ken Stovitz, Smith”s partners at Overbrook Entertainment.
“Night is an outstanding filmmaker who has a tremendous vision for this science-fiction adventure story and we couldn’t be more excited to be working again with Jaden after our experiences on ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and ‘The Karate Kid,’ Sony’s Doug Belgrad said in a press release. “We”re thrilled to have the two of them together on this project.”
Shyamalan added, “The chance to make a scary, science-fiction film starring Jaden and Will is my dream project.”
Shymalan’s last two films were the much-maligned “The Happening” and the sci-fi film “The Last Airbender,” based on the animated show “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Will and Jaden Smith starred together in “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Smith senior hasn’t starred in a film since 2008’s “Seven Pounds,” while the junior Smith headlined last year’s smash hit remake of “The Karate Kid.”
Read Drew McWeeny’s thoughts on the project here.