The EFM (European Film Market) continues to heat up, with another promising project hitting the scene. Will Smith (Men in Black, Emancipation, I Am Legend) will star in the biggest-budgeted project at the show, Sugar Bandits. With a reported budget that circles $80 million, Sugar Bandits follows “a former Special Forces solider who joins an elite, vigilante squad aiming to wipe out the drug trade in Boston, but soon learns things are not what they seem.”
Sugar Bandits has sat on the Hollywood sidelines with Universal setting director Joe Carnahan on the project. However, it’s now heading to EFM, where filmmakers scope out independent projects. Sugar Bandits is based on the screenplay and novel Devils In Exile by Chuck Hogan (The Town, The Strain, 13 Hours), with Smith and Jon Mone producing through Westbrook Studios. Ryan Shimizaki oversees the project, with Stuart Ford joining the production effort through AGC Studios, which is financing the film entirely. Additionally, Richard Abate produces via 3 Arts Entertainment.
Smith is starring in the film, but he’s not the lead. It’s rare for Smith to attach himself to a movie in the indie arena, making Sugar Bandits a coveted project at the upcoming film market festival.
Smith’s last big screen outing was for Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation. Smith played Peter in the hard-hitting drama about a runaway slave who forges through the swamps of Louisiana on a torturous journey to escape plantation owners who nearly killed him. Smith’s Bad Boys 4 is in post-production, with Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah directing. Martin Lawrence returns for the action-packed sequel, with Alexander Ludwig, Eric Dane, Vanessa Hudgens, Rhea Seehorn, Melanie Liburd, and more starring as primary cast members.
Details about Smith’s Planes, Trains, & Automobiles remake remain a mystery. Aeysha Carr (Uncoupled, Born Again Virgin, The Carmichael Show) directs, with Kevin Hart starring opposite Smith. The remark takes inspiration from the 1987 comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy, which is about an odd couple traveling together during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Are you excited to see Will Smith in another action film? Who do you think will be cast alongside him for Sugar Bandits? Let us know in the comments below.