Those of you who were looking forward to seeing Will Smith apprear in the Tim Burton-directed live-action adaptation of Disney's DUMBO might start throwing roasted peanuts at the famous actor/rapper/producer, as he has recently backed out of the project. Citing the typical reasons of salary and scheduling conflicts, Smith is now setting his priorities on the production of BAD BOYS FOR LIFE with co-star Martin Lawrence.
The news doens't come as much of a shock seeing as Smith's invovlvement in DUMBO was never a done deal. The fact of the matter is that these things happen, and sometimes it's best to move on to other ideas rather than linger in the limbo of indicision and questionable availabilty. The good news is that DUMBO will continue to move forward at full-speed, even with Smith no longer in talks to star in the film. Ehren Kruger has a script ready and rearin' to go, and I'm sure that Tim Burton is already hard at work doodling concept sketches for all of his weird and wonderful plans for this live-action update of the 1941 animated original.
I must admit that I'm quite curious about how this film will shape up. There's a lot of heart in the DUMBO story, however, the trials and tribulations of the big-eared elephant do tend to lead the little guy down a dark road or two throughout his journey. Tim Burton seems like a good fit in regard to presenting a nice balance for both the light and dark themes that are a part of Disney's timeless tale, but until we see some footage, we'll just have to hope that an evening with Dumbo's Circus will be worth the price of admission.
While there is no confirmed date for the release of DUMBO, you can catch Will Smith as Scott Ward in David Ayer's BRIGHT, which is set to debut on Netflix later this year.