US streaming service Peacock has picked up ‘Bel-Air‘, the dramatic reboot of ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’, from Will Smith and Morgan Cooper, for not one, but two seasons!
In the video above, Will breaks the news to writer/director Morgan Cooper over a video call, along with writer/showrunner Chris Collins. “We have just officially closed the deal with Peacock with an unprecedented two-season-order from a pitch,” comments Smith. “I’ve been in this business for thirty years and that does. not. happen. They ordered two full seasons of Bel-Air based on the quality of the pitch and the work that you guys have done. So I want to say congratulations. I am hyped.”
If you don’t know the background to this story, it’s pretty remarkable! Now, this is a story all about how… YouTube filmmaker Morgan Cooper inspired original star and exec producer Will Smith to pitch a dramatic remake of the sitcom that made him famous to streaming services. Cooper created and filmed the short movie/trailer ‘Bel-Air’ (watch below) that takes all the ideas from the sitcom but remixes them into a much darker, straight drama.
As with the original, the story follows a kid from Philly, who was “shootin’ some b-ball outside of the school, when a couple of guys who were up to no good, started makin’ trouble in the neighbourhood…” When Will gets arrested, his mother calls his Uncle Phil to get him out of jail and insists he move to Bel-Air for a better, and safer, life with his uncle. All the elements are there but told with a dramatic tone. As an hour-long drama, the series aims to take a dive deeper into the inherent conflicts, emotions and biases of what it means to be a Black man in America today, while still delivering the swagger and fun nods to the original show… such as the “Carlton Dance” which does make a brief appearance in the pitch trailer!
The new drama series has apparently been in development pretty much since Cooper original put the trailer online in March 2019. Will Smith saw the video and loved the idea so much, he contacted Cooper about developing it into a full series via Westbrook Studios, the production company he owns with wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
“As funny as the episodes are, there was a whole other layer that you couldn’t do,” commented Smith about the original series. “In a one hour drama, you can do eight-episode arcs… The dramatic version of these ideas means that you can use existing storylines, but it’s not going to seem like you’re redoing an episode, because the storyline is going to be brand new from the dramatic perspective.”
“We get to go back to the beginning and start talking about my real experiences,” Smith continues. “For example, for me, I moved to LA and started ‘The Fresh Prince’ and all of my friends started getting killed and going to jail. The escape that I made from it in real life, was the escape that Will made in the show. Was I going to be that same statistic, or was I going to do and be something different?”
The new series will be directed, co-exec produced, and co-written by Cooper alongside Chris Collins, who previous credits include ‘The Wire’, ‘Sons of Anarchy’, and ‘The Sopranos’. Collins will serve as showrunner and also exec-produce. Westbrook Studios and Universal Television (who own the copyright to the original series) will produce the drama.
‘Bel-Air‘ will premiere in the US on streaming service Peacock, owned by NBCUniversal, although we don’t yet have a date for it. We don’t know where it’ll land in the UK either, but as Sky is a sister company to Peacock (both under the NBCUniversal umbrella), there is a fair chance will end up there. We’ll let you know when we know more.
