It’s official, Will Smith and Jay-Z to team up for ANNIE remake
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(Feel free to listen to Jay-Z's ghetto anthem "Hard Knock Life" which samples the original Annie musical as you read along.)
We reported a few days ago that this might be a reality, and now it seems that it is definitely on the horizon. Jay-Z and Will Smith have already collaborated in the past, having invested in the Tony award-winning musical Fela! - based on the life of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti - and now the two are hoping to develop a new version of ANNIE with Will Smith's daughter Willow in the lead role. While young Willow is only nine years old, her first single "Whip My Hair," under Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation, has already been certified Platinum. (And it totally jams. No, it doesn't.)
The duo not only plans to turn Willow Smith into a multi-media superstar, but Overbrook Entertainment partners James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Big Willie himself expect to release a number of films with the rap mogul in the coming years. The Overbrook team has already had great success in rebooting THE KARATE KID with Smith's abnormally flexible son Jaden, in addition to other Will Smith-starring vehicles such as HITCH and I AM LEGEND.
Perhaps the remake will be a musical? Is it possible Jay-Z would record an orphan-themed album inspired by ANNIE as he did back in 2007 with Ridley Scott's AMERICAN GANGSTER? Could Jay-Z's hit song "Hard Knock Life" possibly appear in the finished film?
So many questions...
Source Reuters
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