Will Smith to Star in Original Action Thriller BOUNTY

Original concepts are at such a premium these days that when a new movie is put in development that isn't based on a comic, video game, book, or other existing property, I occasionally feel like I need to put that information in a headline. It's kind of sad when you think about it, but that's just the way our film culture is right now.

THR reports that Will Smith has found a new project. He's attached to star in Bounty, an original spec script from Sascha Penn that sounds like it has shades of The Fugitive, perhaps mixed with a little of Smith's own Enemy of the State.

The story is set in Boston and centers on a man (Smith) who is wrongly convicted of murder. He escapes from prison determined to prove his innocence—a nearly impossible task after the widow of the man he supposedly killed puts a $10 million bounty on him, dead or alive.

It'll be interesting to see Smith take on a comic book movie role in Suicide Squad (and its presumed sequels, spin-offs, and other DC movies that particular role could bleed over into), and then bounce back over into projects like this. I'm still a fan of his, even though he's had a few misses in recent years, but Bounty sounds like a cool project and one that could hearken back to his best days of being a blockbuster action star.