I really, sincerly hope Will Smith’s kids enjoy being pushed into the limelight so young and don’t end up resenting it. They do seem very young for such attention, but with Jaden already a budding film star and Willow having hit songs, it’s probably too late to turn back. Now it seems Will’s are turning his attention to getting Willow onto the big screen (we’ll ignore her small role with pops in I Am Legend), potentially with a remake of Annie.
Variety reports that Will Smith is ‘exploring with Sony’ the idea of a new version of Annie, with the idea that Willow woud take the title role. There’s no news on whether Will might also appear, or just help develop the project as he did with Jaden’s Karate Kid retooling.
It’s also uncertain at this stage whether the new Annie would keep the original setting or update things, or indeed if there’ll be any new music. However the news that Jay-Z (who worked on Willow’s Whip My Hair) has been hired to collaborate on the music, suggests we may be getting very different version of the classic musical’s songs than we’re used to – indeed it was Jay-Z who famously sampled Annie’s Hard Knock Life into one of his tunes, giving it a whole new contect.
Either way, it sounds like they’re going for something a little more urban and a little less sickly and whitebread for the new version.