When it comes to starting a career as the child of a famous celebrity, Jaden Smith has had it easier and yet tougher than most. For one, he has the benefit of being the son of Will Smith, one of the biggest stars on the planet, and being his kid sure as hell made it easier to get a movie like The Karate Kid off the ground. On the other hand, that came with a ton of expectations that were hard to live up to, not only for fans of the original but also from people who thought he was just handed the role....which he was. And yet Jaden proved himself to be not only a tough and capable actor, but a major box office draw as the film earned over $350M. Not too shabby.
Sony has apparently taken notice and has picked up the rights to the upcoming Boy Nobody trilogy of novels by Allen Zadoff for Jaden to star in.The story centers on a brainwashed teen assassin who starts to regain his memories and emotions. So this is a baby Bourne series, I guess? Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment is in on the development as well, so daddy again isn't far behind. The two are set to star together in After Earth, a sci-fi flick which they are currently filming for director M. Night Shyamalan.
At some point Jaden is going to have to step out from daddy's shadow completely, but as long as he keeps finding success that's not going to happen anytime soon. With Will only making about one movie every two or three years, he seems to be passing the torch more and more to his kids. Let's hope the success doesn't go to their heads and they start getting stupid haircuts or something. Oh wait....[Variety]
