THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR Is Getting a Dark and Gritty Reboot with BEL-AIR
About a year ago, director Morgan Cooper released a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fan film that reimagined the original series as something that is more grounded, dark, and gritty. He titled the project Bel-Air and it took the Internet by storm. The majority of people who watched it thought it was great and wanted to see it adapted into a real series. Well, that is actually happening.
Bel-Air is now being developed as an actual series that is currently being pitched to various streaming services. Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith will be producers on the project from their Westbrook Studios. Cooper will direct and co-executive produce the potential series, which he is co-writing with Chris Collins (The Man in the High Castle, The Wire). Collins is also an executive producer and will serve as showrunner.
The new series is set in modern-day America, Bel-Air is “a serialized one-hour dramatic analogue of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that leans into the original premise: Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. With a reimagined vision, Bel-Air will dive deeper into the inherent conflicts, emotions and biases that were impossible to fully explore in a 30-minute sitcom format, while still delivering swagger and fun nods to the original show.”
Will Smith himself praised this concept in a video released last year in which he appeared in with Cooper, telling the filmmaker, “That’s an idea that is brilliant.” You can watch the video below. It’s cool to see that Smith put his money where his mouth is and pushing to bring this project to life.
This is going to make for a great series. For those of you that haven’t seen the fan film, check it out below.