Will Smith to Star In and Produce the Crime Thriller ‘Sugar Bandits’

Will Smith is set to star and produce the upcoming crime action thriller “Sugar Bandits,” which will be presented to potential distributors by producers AGC International alongside CAA Media Finance at the European Film Market.

Based on the 2010 novel “Devils in Exile” by Chuck Hogan, who also wrote the screenplay, Smith will play Maven, an Iraq War veteran who struggles to fit back into civilian life in Boston. Isolated, he joins a gang of fellow war vets who rip off drug dealers, only to find himself being hunted by both a smart DEA agent and a vengeful drug lord.

Smith and Jon Mone will produce through Westbrook Studios with Ryan Shimazaki overseeing; Stuart Ford will produce for AGC Studios, which is also financing the film. Richard Abate will produce for 3Arts Entertainment.

Smith, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for “King Richard,” but got himself suspended from the ceremony after slapping Chris Rock, most recently appeared in the 2022 Antoine Fuqua film “Emancipation,” which Apple bought at Cannes for a festival record of $120 million but which received mixed reviews from critics and general disinterest from audiences.

Since then, Smith has lined up several other projects including Sony’s “Bad Boys 4,” set for release later this year, and a sequel to his 2007 hit zombie film “I Am Legend” co-starring Michael B. Jordan.

Smith is repped by CAA. Hogan is repped by CAA and 3Arts Entertainment. The project was first reported by Variety.

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