Nepotism has always run rampant in Hollywood, and one of the most notably egregious examples is M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth. A vanity project and major misstep for Will Smith, the actor received the first and so far only story credit of his entire career to refit what was initially a relatively grounded father and son tale about a family stranded in the wilderness into a portentous $130 million sci-fi epic set a thousand years in the future.
Not only did After Earth lose money after topping out with a box office haul of $243 million, but it was roundly savaged by critics, and a lot of the criticism was aimed at the stilted and wooden performance of Jaden Smith, who was woefully unequipped to handle a project of such magnitude. Pops even expressed his regrets at getting his son involved in the first place, but insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Smith Sr. plans to pull some more strings for his middle child.
As per the tipster, Will Smith is reportedly trying to get Jaden a role in the DCEU, but no additional information or details are provided, so all we’ve got is a vague statement to go on. Of course, the Suicide Squad star is hardly actively involved in the franchise himself after any plans for a Deadshot solo film were abandoned several years back, while he was almost recast for the sequel before the decision was made to keep the door open for a potential return instead.
Jaden was linked to Static Shock a few years ago, though, and while he’s signalled his intentions to dive into acting again, he’s not taken any onscreen roles since romantic drama Life in a Year was released last November after sitting on the shelf since 2017, so it’s best not to read too much into the speculation just yet.
