Will Smith who has yet to win an academy despite being nominated twice, has his eyes currently set on adapting Daniel Keyes’ 1966 Hugo and Nebula awards winning novel “Flowers For Algernon.”
The project is set up at Sony by Smith’s own production company Overbrook Entertainment. Tracy Nyberg (“I Am Legend” and “Hancock”) is set to produce in what most would describe as a sophisticated sci-fi drama invoking the smarts of “I, Robot” with the chick flick nature of “Seven Pounds.”
“Flowers For Algernon” touches upon several ethical and moral themes particularly with the treatment of the mentally disabled. It is about a man named Charlie with a below average IQ who undergoes experiments to enhance his intelligence. The cost is alienation from everything and everyone he knows, before it’s revealed that the process was flawed and its effects are only temporary.
While Smith has a full plate, you can expect “Flowers For Algernon” before either “Hancock 2” or “Bad Boys 3.”