A Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot drama is in the works. The original NBC television series (1990-1996) was a situational comedy starring Will Smith as a street smart kid from Philly who is shipped to stay with his uncle’s family in Beverly Hills.
The new drama series, Bel-Air, is based on Morgan Cooper‘s viral YouTube trailer. The trailer, with updates from the original series producers Will Smith, Benny Medina and Quincy Jones, is currently being shopped to livestream networks, including HBO Max and Netflix.
Bel-Air is described as a dramatic spin on the original comedy TV series that launched Will Smith’s career as an actor.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the new Bel-Air series has been in the works for more than a year after the 4-minute clip went viral in March 2019.
Cooper, a self-described Fresh Prince super-fan, created and directed the trailer that reimagines the series as a drama.
He will co-write the script, direct and be credited as a co-executive producer, according to THR.
The original series also starred James Avery, Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons, Tatyana M. Ali, Joseph Marcell and Janet Hubert-Whitten/Daphne Maxwell Reid.
Smith has remained close with the cast, except for Hubert-Whitten.
Watch the trailer below.
