Will Smith to Star in Crime Thriller ‘Sugar Bandits'

Will Smith to Star in Crime Thriller ‘Sugar Bandits’

Will Smith is attached to star in action-thriller Sugar Bandits, which is set to become a buzzy project at the upcoming European Film Market.

A logline is under wraps for the crime film that is based on author Chuck Hogan’s novel Devils in Exile. AGC Studios is financing the movie that does not yet have a director attached and will be shopped at the EFM this month in Berlin, where the market kicks off Thursday.

Smith and Jon Mone are producing for Westbrook Studios, and Ryan Shimazaki is overseeing the project. Producers also include Stuart Ford for AGC Studios and Richard Abate for 3 Arts Entertainment. AGC International and CAA Media Finance are handling worldwide distribution rights.

Hogan (The Town, 13 Hours) wrote the Sugar Bandits screenplay adapting his own 2010 novel. The book focuses on Boston-based Neal Maven, who returns from the Iraq War with little job prospects and teams up with other soldiers to steal from local drug dealers.

The Hollywood Reporter previously had the scoop that Sugar Bandits was set up over a decade ago at Universal Pictures with Joe Carnahan in talks to direct.

Smith’s most recent film was Antoine Fuqua’s historical thriller Emancipation, which Apple TV+ released less than a year after the star made headlines for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony. Smith’s other upcoming projects include the fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise and a sequel to I Am Legend.

EFM runs Feb. 15-21 in conjunction with the Berlin Film Festival, which begins on the same day.

Smith is represented by CAA. Hogan is repped by WME and 3 Arts Entertainment.

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