Mann & Smith to build an “Empire”

Columbia Prictures has acquired the rights to Empire– a Will Smith vehicle to be helmed by Michael Mann, who previously directed Smith to an Oscar nom in 2001's Ali. The film with be written by hot scribe John Logan. Plot details are sketchy but word has it that Smith will play a contemporary global media mogul.

Smith's dance card has been full these days. His latest film, I Am Legend opens Dec. 14, with John Hancock (from Peter Berg, who recently helmed the Mann produced The Kingdom) to follow next summer. Empire will have to wait until Smith completes production on Seven Pounds– which reunites him with Pursuit of Happiness director Gabriele Muccino.

Michael Mann has always been one of my favorite directors, and the prospect of him re-teaming with Will Smith is very exciting. Considering that Miami Vice tanked last summer- it's probably not a bad thing that on Empire he'll be teamed with one of the last truly bankable leading actors in Hollywood. Smith has proven repeatedly that no matter what the genre, be it an action flick, a comedy, or an award caliber drama, he ALWAYS able to deliver a blockbuster.

With Smith on board one can rest assured that Mann will get a big budget and creative freedom. Smith has a great reputation for consistently going to bat for his directors, so Mann will have the time and resources to develop the film his way. One of the problems with Miami Vice was that the original ending had to be scrapped due to security problems on the Dominican Republic shooting location- which reportedly led to Jamie Foxx abandoning the film. With his star refusing to return to the location, Mann had to film a hastily scripted alternate finale back in the States. If someone with Smith's clout was onboard, Mann probably would have gotten his preferred ending.

With the amount of talent involved, Empire is definitely a film to look forward to.