In a very competitive situation, peacockTV has landed BelAir, an hourlong series based on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Morgan Cooper’s popular fan film that reenvisions the 1990s Will Smith sitcom as a drama
The project, from Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Universal Television, was pitched to streamers last month, drawing strong interest and big commitments, including multiple straight-to-series orders, to set up a bidding war. I hear it went down to Peacock and Netflix, resulting in a two-season order.
Cooper will direct and co-executive produce the series, which he is co-writing with Chris Collins . Collins is an executive producer and showrunner.that leans into the original premise of Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air.
Westbrook Studios, a division of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Inc., and Universal TV, which owns copyright to the original series, will serve as the studios. The short film by cinematographer Cooper took the Internet by storm when it was released in March 2019. Described by Cooper as “a reinterpretation” that brings the story “into modern-day life in 2019,” it has amassed more than 7.5 million views to date in two official YouTune posts alone. The four-minute spec trailer received a lot of praise, including from Will Smith who appeared in a video with Cooper, telling the filmmaker, “That’s an idea that is brilliant.
The original sitcom was a signature series for NBC. That legacy likely played into Peacock’s push to land the reimagining. The NBCU streamer has been actively rebooting classic NBC sitcoms with
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