Will Smith to Star in, Produce Flowers for Algernon Remake

According to various online sources, Will Smith is signing on to produce and star in a remake of Daniel Keyes short story “Flowers for Algernon.”

The story was first published in 1959 and was subsequently turned into a novel that came out in 1966. It’s the story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally handicapped man whose IQ is nearly tripled when he undergoes an experimental surgery that had only previously been conducted on a lab mouse named Algernon. The narrative chronicles Charlie’s meteoric increase in intelligence and the social and emotional fallout of these changes, which are ultimately followed by a relapse and a return to his previous intelligence levels when the surgical results do not hold.

The story has been adapted for the screen several times before, including a 2000 TV movie starring Matthew Modine and, most notably, a 1968 film called Charly, which earned a 1969 Best Actor Oscar for its star Cliff Robertson.

Could Smith’s next project be another Oscar bid? He was nominated for the Best Actor award for 2001’s Ali and 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness but has never taken home the statue. All the same, as Smith goes forward with this role, perhaps he should keep in mind the sage acting advice of Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) in Tropic Thunder. Then again, perhaps not.

The modern-day adaptation of Keyes’ Algernon is being developed by Sony Pictures and Smith’s own Overbrook Entertainment, along with Polksy Films. Overbrook’s Tracey Nyberg, a producer on Hancock and executive assistant to Smith on I Am Legend, will co-produce.

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