Will Smith Won’t Be Starring in Tim Burton’s Live-Action ‘Dumbo’ Movie After All
After starring in a handful of disappointing films, including last year’s Collateral Beauty and Suicide Squad, it sure would be nice to see Will Smith star in a decent movie again. Bad Boys 3, which was recently delayed, could be that film — maybe, possibly — but Disney’s new Dumbo movie seemed like more of a sure thing given the studio’s reliable formula for live-action remakes. Recent reports revealed that Smith was in talks to star in Tim Burton’s reimagining of the classic Disney film; unfortunately, those talks are no longer happening.
According to Deadline, Smith’s talks with Disney have come to a halt, with the actor declining to star in the live-action remake due to scheduling conflicts and disagreements over his salary. Although Collateral Beauty failed to connect with audiences and Suicide Squad garnered largely negative reviews, Smith is still one of the highest-grossing actors in Hollywood — per Forbes, the actor generated $775 million at the box-office in 2016, putting him in the number 10 spot on their annual top-grossing list.
However, Smith is also number two on Forbes’ list of the most overpaid actors; the box-office returns on his films fail to justify his hefty salary demands — so maybe taking a slight pay cut to appear in a guaranteed hit film (whether or not it would actually be good under the direction of Burton seems irrelevant in the magical world of Disney) wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
In any case, Disney has put Dumbo on the fast-track, with Burton directing from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, best known for his work on the Transformers franchise and The Ring.