Will Smith has departed his upcoming film Sugar Bandits. Smith encountered scheduling issues that forced him to drop out of the upcoming action thriller. Deadline reports that the film was in pre-production, and was beginning to scout shooting locations.

This is the second film in the past month to lose its leading man at short notice; Joaquin Phoenix departed Todd Fields‘ untitled gay romance drama days before filming was to commence, throwing that film’s future into doubt. Sugar Bandits may be similarly imperiled; the film was sold to Amazon Prime Video and a number of other distributors worldwide at the European Film Market and at Cannes with the expectation that Smith would be the star. Despite the controversy over the slap he delivered to Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, Smith proved this summer that he was still a box office draw with the financial success of this summer’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which grossed $400 million USD worldwide. It remains to be seen whether a new star of a similar profile can be found in time. As the search for a new lead begins, however, Smith and his Westbrook production company remain on board Sugar Bandits as producers.

What Is ‘Sugar Bandits’ About?

Sugar Bandits is based on the novel Devils in Exile, by Chuck Hogan. Hogan‘s novel Prince of Thieves was adapted into the film The Town, and he also co-authored The Strain trilogy of vampire novels with Guillermo del Toro. Like The Town, Sugar Bandits is set in Boston; it concerns a group of urban vigilantes, led by ex-Special Forces operative Neal Maven (formerly played by Smith), who are targeting the city’s major drug traffickers. Soon, they find themselves caught between the DEA and a pair of psychopathic hit men. The film is set to be helmed by Italian director Stefano Sollima (Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Without Remorse). The film has been in development for some time; The Grey‘s Joe Carnahan was in talks to direct it back in 2013.

It is unclear what project Smith encountered scheduling conflicts with; Smith has a pair of projects, Fast and Loose and The Council, that have languished in development for a few years. He is also slated to star in a sequel to his apocalyptic actioner I Am Legend, which is currently being written by Akiva Goldsman.

Sugar Bandits is currently in pre-production, and is now looking for a new lead.

via Collider