Following his attack on Chris Rock at last weekend’s Oscars ceremony, Will Smith’s big blockbusters could be placed on hold.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony has paused work on the fourth episode of the Bad Boys film franchise in the wake of the Oscars embarrassment.
As a maverick Miami drugs agent, Smith would have reunited with co-star Martin Lawrence in the film.
This comes following reports that Netflix has delayed down production on the action thriller film Fast and Loose, starring the 53-year-old Smith.
Studios want to see how ruined Smith’s reputation has become when he came on stage to smack Rock for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, before investing millions of dollars in new projects, according to industry sources.
The Men in Black and Ali actor is also set to star in Apple TV’s £90 million slavery epic Emancipation this autumn, with no indication that it would be postponed.
Smith, who was enraged by Rock’s joke about his wife’s alopecia-related shaved head, has since resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, stating he had ‘betrayed’ the organization’s trust.
‘Some of the members are saying Will leaped before he was shoved,’ one Academy member stated. ‘The executives are still reeling from what transpired.’
Disciplinary processes will ‘continue to move ahead,’ according to the Academy.