Twenty years after the season finale of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, fans of the show have been wondering if Will Smith would ever return for a reboot of the popular ’90s sitcom. According to the the 47-year-old actor, his reign as the Fresh Prince ended at the same time the original show did.
When asked about a possible reboot, Smith stated to E! News: “I don’t think ever, like pretty close to when hell freezes over. Like, we’re going to leave that one alone.”
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During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2012, Smith explained: “Every country in the world, that is the thing I am most known for. No matter how big the movies get, it’s Fresh Prince everywhere.”
Rumors of a reboot show spread last year with Smith supposedly pursuing a producer role on a Fresh Prince revival, but nothing ever came to fruition. However, according to EW, Smith’s production company, Overbrook Entertainment, was developing a family comedy revolving around a fish-out-of-water type character that would share surface-level similarities to the series that launched Smith to stardom in the ’90s.
Is it at all possible Smith does not want to join a reboot because he would have to work again with Janet Hubert, who portrayed Aunt Vivian on the show? Hubert publicly criticized Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith for boycotting the Academy Awards over the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.
Hubert stated in a since-deleted YouTube video: “I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living and made millions and millions of dollars from the very people that you’re talking about boycotting just because you didn’t get a nomination, just because you didn’t win? That is not the way life works, baby.”
Will Smith seems to not have any bad blood over Hubert’s comments as he praised her back in February on an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra. Smith said, “I think she’s brilliant, you know. I think as an artist, there’s so many things that she does. She sings, she dances, she’s like a really powerful artist. So I loved what she brought to The Fresh Prince.”
Will Smith’s upcoming movie Suicide Squad hits theaters this weekend on August 5, 2016.
Would you like to see a Fresh Prince reboot?
