Will Smith being lined up for Dumbo remake

Will Smith is reportedly in talks to star in director Tim Burton’s live action reboot of Dumbo.

Tim Burton is attached to direct from a script by Transformers: Age of Extinction writer Ehren Kruger. Smith also has David Ayer’s Netflix thriller Bright coming up, along with the long-awaited sequel Bad Boys for Life, in which he’ll team up again with Martin Lawrence.

Burton has been linked to the new film for a few years now but following the success of live action adaptations like Cinderella and The Jungle Book, Disney is reportedly keen to get a start date on Dumbo locked down.

A TV movie on Michael Jackson

A TV movie, tentatively titled Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland, is currently in pre-production and Navi, known as the top Michael Jackson tribute artist, will star as the title role in his first-ever acting gig.

The movie is based on the book “Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days,” and told through the perspective of the late singer’s bodyguards, Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard.

The news comes the same day the British TV network Sky cancelled a controversial episode of the comedy series Urban Myths in which Joseph Fiennes plays Michael Jackson. There is no air date yet for Searching for Neverland.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 21st, 2017