Rama’s SCREEN reader Frankie thinks Will Smith always plays Will Smith in all his movies, he might be wearing a suit or holding a gun or living alone in a post-apocalyptic world but he’s still Will Smith. But what if Will Smith plays a mentally retarded character? Would that finally give him an Oscar? According to Panjiba, Smith is set to star and produce a modern day adaptation of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON based on the 1959 book by author Daniel Keyes…
The story has been turned into several adaptations, most famously the 1968 movie CHARLY starring Cliff Robertson (Spider-Man) in his Oscar winning performance. You can watch the entire movie in 11 parts on Youtube.
This doesn’t mean the same luck will happen to Smith. All The King’s Men (1949) gave Broderick Crawford an Oscar but the remake (2006) didn’t give Sean Penn jack.
The new FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON movie is housed at Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment and Polksy Films.
But I just don’t see when this will ever take place, Smith got HANCOCK 2, I AM LEGEND prequel/sequel, OLDBOY in his pocket, not to mention trying to get his kid, Jaden Smith be the next child star (KUNG FU KID)
Hell I’m even surprised he’s not doing SEVEN POUNDS 2 where he donates all his organs even in heaven.
Here’s the official synopsis of the book FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON…
“Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie’s intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance–until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?”
