Will Smith: From Fresh Prince to Pharaoh

Sunday

07Sep2008

Will Smith: From Fresh Prince to Pharaoh

Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 10:22PM

Will Smith is making one of his dream projects, handing over the story of the Egyptian Pharaoh Taharqa to screenwriter-director Randall Wallace, who is no stranger to big, sweeping epics, having written the script for Braveheart and a draft of the adaptation for Atlas Shrugged.

Smith will co-produce the film, tentatively called The Last Pharaoh, even though he really wasn't the very last Pharaoh. But I'm nitpicking.

According to Variety, "The film will focus on [Taharqa's] battles with Assyrian leader Esarhaddon starting in 677 B.C." If you're trying to put 677 B.C. into perspective, that's when Michael Douglas broke into show business.

I can see this sort of playing out like a cross between Troy and 300, where there's loads of action and a few well-placed historical fabrications, and with Smith's clout, it will no doubt get plenty of attention. Will the sword and sandal craze die down between now and whenever this movie gets released? You'd have to think it would be at least 2011 before we'd see it, and there's also the chance that Will's hot streak will cool off by then.

So if it's as big a project as it sounds like - Taharqa reigned for over 30 years, you'd have to shoot on location, you're going to have lots of battle scenes - this is a calculated risk by Columbia. I like the pieces in place, though, and that's always a good start.

Colin Boyd |

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