Fans everywhere were surprised when a YouTube trailer reenvisioned the classic Fresh Prince of Bel-Air into a drama series that even included the Fresh prince himself, Will Smith. Since the trailer aired, there has been alot of buzz around as to whether one of the networks would pick it up and run with it. Skip to today and now we have been told there is a full reboot of the series in development.
Based off the trailer, the new series will be more drama based than a sitcom. Morgan Cooper, the creator of the trailer is actually working with Will Smith on the project. Cooper will co-write the script as well as direct and co-executive produce the series.
So far Peacock, HBO Max & Netflix are all in the bidding process for the series, though this will be a huge get for either HBO Max or Peacock. Peacock is NBC Universal’s streaming service and NBC is where the original series was based.
Smith will also serve as executive producer along with original producers Quincy Jones, Benny Medina, and series creators Andy and Susan Borowitz. Chris Collins will be at the helm as showrunner and is co-writing the script with Cooper.
Smith previously spoke to Cooper after watching the trailer, and he came away truly impressed and inspired by what they could explore in a more drama-focused series.
“Mike wrote from the first season of Fresh Prince,” Smith said. “As funny as the episodes are, there was a whole other layer that you couldn’t do, like, in a one-hour drama you can do eight-episode arcs. The dramatic versions of these ideas mean that you can use existing storylines but it’s not going to seem like you’re redoing an episode because the storyline’s going to be brand new from the dramatic perspective.”
Stay tuned for more information on this development. Will be be watching this one?