Will Smith’s scandal at the Oscars is costing him too much. Netflix and Apple+ were reportedly in a bidding war to win the rights to Will Smith’s biopic that was based on his bestselling autobiography, Will last year. But now the streaming houses have all withdrawn from the competition. It’s proving too risky to be associated with the actor. Sony has also put a hold on Bad Boys 4, an action buddy flick from Will Smith.

For those unaware, on the 2022 Oscars night Will stormed on stage to whack host comedian Chris Rock straight across the face. The actor was fired up after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s disease alopecia and her bald head. The actor won a Best Actor award at the marquee event aftereard for his role in King Richard. He apologized to the fraternity in his speech barring Chris during the acceptance speech. Additionally, the actor resigned from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and issued an apology. Yet, he is still awaiting a hearing on April 18. The Academy will decide whether he gets to keep the award or not. 

Netflix and Apple+ have quietly pushed the Will Smith biopic to the back burner

Since the star’s biopic is no longer on the horizon, the production houses will produce original ideas. They plan to work with other black stars like Michael B. Jordan. 

“Netflix and Apple+ have quietly removed their bids for a Will Smith biopic and will instead relocate the funds and develop original ideas from new black actors. Working with Will has become a risky business. They now plan on developing ideas with more family-friendly stars like Mike Epps and Michael B. Jordan,” disclosed The Sun. Moreover, Netflix has also shelved another Smith project Fast and Loose. After losing director, David Leitch to Universal’s Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling, Netflix has made the final call to stop production on the project altogether.

The 1995 blockbuster Bad Boys was supposed to get a sequel, Bad Boys 4 after the tremendous success of 2020’s Bad Boys for Life. But in the wake of the Oscars scandal, the Chris Bremner penned story at Sony is also on hold.