Years ago, back in the Corona Coming Attractions / AICN heyday of internet movie news, there was a spec script out there called Supermax that seemed forever on the verge of being made. It was to feature a specially designed prison that held numerous supervillains. When I first saw this headline, I thought “After all this time…?
It turns out I was wrong. This is not that movie. This Supermax will star Will Smith and is being set up by Amazon MGM.
Deadline reports that Smith is set in the project, which hails from Miramax and has a $70 million budget in place. David Gordon Green (Halloween, Scarpetta) directs for a streaming-only release, following Amazon’s other projects like Road House and the upcoming Voltron.
David Weil and David J. Rosen (Hunters, Invasion) wrote the script, which apparently follows two FBI agents investigating a murder that has taken place in the world’s most secure prison.
Filming will begin in the summer, and casting is underway for supporting actors. Supermax comes almost four years after Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, Smith’s last movie. His Oscar incident still casting a long shadow over his career, coming on the night he won for Best Actor.
Smith was widely considered the biggest movie star on the planet from approximately 1996 to 2008. During this peak, he dominated the box office with hits like Independence Day and Men in Black, later becoming the only actor to have eight consecutive films grossing over $100 million domestically.
In 2007, Newsweek called him the “most powerful actor in Hollywood,” and by 2008, he was recognized as the world’s most bankable star.
The moral of this story, kids, is obvious.
