He was last seen hanging around Netflix's servers for fantasy thriller Bright, and Will Smith will return to the streaming service for a new movie. This time, he's playing real-life crime boss Nicky Barnes in The Council.
With a script by Concussion's Peter Landesman (though he's not listed as director as of yet), The Council will follow the never-before told story of a crime syndicate consisting of seven African-American men who ruled Harlem in the 1970s and early 80s. No ordinary crime syndicate – the men dreamed of a self-sufficient and self-policing African American city-state, funded by revolutionizing the drug game. The movie centers on the Shakespearean court intrigue between The Council’s king, Nicky Barnes, dubbed "Mr. Untouchable" by the New York Times, and all the different members as one unlikely rising protégé emerges.
Barnes was sentenced to life imprisonment, eventually becoming a federal informant, and dying in 2012, though that information wasn't released until this year.
As for Smith, he'll be back on big screens for long-developing thriller Gemini Man, which will be out on 11 October.