Will Smith in talks to tackle live-action 'Dumbo' directed by Tim Burton

Image from BBC

By Darian Scalamoni

            Will Smith has had an interesting last few years in cinema. After his absolute failure of a movie, After Earth in which he co-starred with his son, Jaden, Smith has been choosing much different projects than ever before. Last year, he had a near-Oscar turn as Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion and this past year, he starred in the DC film, Suicide Squad in which he played Deadshot. Now, according to Deadline, it seems Smith might’ve picked his most interesting film to date in the live-action interpretation of Dumbo.

            The fresh take on the 1941 animated classic will be directed by the always interesting Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman). If you don’t know the premise for the original, the movie follows a baby circus elephant who is teased and made fun of for his large ears and is separated from his mother. At this time there are no further details other than a report from THR, saying that Smith’s character would be “a father who works at the big top” whose children form a bond with the titular elephant. The new version is set to dive deeper and expand the circus aspect of the story.

            The complication with this is that Disney wants to get this movie up-and-running as soon as possible and a potential production start date that would be around the same time that Smith was set to film Bad Boys for Life, the third installment in the Bad Boys franchise. If that is the case, Smith has a big decision to make between which movie he would like to do. Smith is currently filming David Ayer's sci-fi crime film, Bright that will be streamed on Netflix.