Bel-Air is a 2019 short fan film written and directed by Morgan Cooper, based on the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air . The film serves as a mock trailer for a darker, more dramatic re-imagining of the sitcom. It was uploaded on YouTube on March 10, 2019. [1] [2]
In August 2020, it was announced that it was being developed into a full television show, with Cooper and original series star Will Smith as executive producers. [3] [4] [5] The series had reportedly been in the works for over a year since Cooper posted his Bel-Air trailer on YouTube, with Netflix, NBC's Peacock, and HBO Max all bidding for the series. [6] On September 8, 2020, it was picked up by Peacock, which gave Bel-Air a two-season order. [7]
After being involved in a gang fight during a street basketball game, Will Smith is sent by his mother out of the rough streets of Philadelphia to live with his uncle and aunt in the affluent neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles, in the hopes of straightening out his life.
The film is supposed to take place in 2019. The trailer is heavily influenced by modern-day popular culture, according to Cooper in an interview.[ citation needed ]
NOTE: The characters Geoffrey Butler and Nicky Banks (portrayed by Joseph Marcell and Ross Bagley in the original series) do not appear in the film.
Morgan Cooper shot the Philadelphia sequences of Bel-Air in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, in a span of six months. [1]
Will Smith, who played the main character of the original sitcom, heavily praised the fan film, commenting that "Morgan did a ridiculous trailer for Bel-Air. Brilliant idea, the dramatic version of The Fresh Prince for the next generation." He also hinted at options of expanding the idea beyond the short film. [8] [9]
On August 11, 2020, the series Bel-Air was officially announced after being in the works for over a year. At the time, Netflix, HBO Max, and Peacock were bidding for the rights to the show. [10] On September 8, 2020, Peacock gave the series a two-season order under the title Bel-Air, with Westbrook Inc. and Universal Television producing. Smith and Cooper executive-produce, alongside Terence Carter, James Lassiter, Miguel Melendez, Malcolm Spellman, Quincy Jones, Benny Medina, Andy Borowitz, and Susan Borowitz. [11] An online premiere for the series was held on February 9, 2022, by Crown & Conquer. [12] The series premiered on Peacock on February 13, 2022. [13] [14]
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager born and raised in West Philadelphia who is sent to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, where his lifestyle often clashes with that of his upper-class relatives.
Vernee Christell Johnson is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is best known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and as Viola "Vy" Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996), playing the mother of Will Smith's character. She is often featured in guest or recurring roles as a nurse. She is currently playing Aunt Stella Henry on General Hospital and Gloria Tyler on Bob Hearts Abishola.
Tamala Reneé Jones is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Booty Call, The Wood, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, and What Men Want. Her prominent television roles include Tina, a recurring character on Veronica's Closet; Bobbi Seawright on For Your Love; and Lanie Parish on the ABC crime drama Castle.
Annette Ngozi Ilonzeh is a Nigerian-American actress. From 2010 to 2011, she played Maya Ward on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital, and later starred as Kate Prince in the short-lived ABC reboot of Charlie's Angels. She later had recurring roles on shows such as Arrow, Drop Dead Diva and Empire. In 2017, Ilonzeh played Kidada Jones in the biographical drama film All Eyez on Me, and starred in the thriller 'Til Death Do Us Part. In 2018, she started co-starring as Emily Foster in the NBC drama Chicago Fire.
Will Smith is an American actor and producer. His breakthrough came when he played a fictionalised version of himself in the 1990s television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The role brought him international recognition and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. He also served as an executive producer on 24 episodes of the series. Two years later, Smith made his film debut in the drama Where the Day Takes You, where he appeared as a disabled homeless man. In 1995, he starred as a police officer with Martin Lawrence in Michael Bay's Bad Boys. The following year, Smith appeared as a Marine Corps pilot with Jeff Goldblum in Roland Emmerich's science fiction film Independence Day. The film grossed over $817 million at the worldwide box office and was the highest grossing of 1996. In 1997, he starred as Agent J in the science fiction film Men in Black, a role he reprised in its sequels Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012).
April Parker Jones is an American television actress, best known for her roles as Darcy Hawkins in the CBS post-apocalyptic drama series Jericho from 2006 to 2008, and as Natalie Henning in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera, If Loving You Is Wrong (2014–2020). In 2018, she starred in the CW superhero series, Supergirl as Colonel Lauren Haley.
Willa Fitzgerald is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Emma Duval in MTV's Scream. She has played cheer coach Colette French in the USA Network's television drama series Dare Me and officer Roscoe Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video television series Reacher. Her other notable roles include Amazon Studios' television series Alpha House, the USA Network's drama series Royal Pains, and Netflix's horror miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher.
Brownstone Productions is an American film and television production company founded by actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman. It is known for producing films in the Pitch Perfect franchise, Charlie's Angels (2019) and Cocaine Bear (2023).
Brave New World is an American science fiction drama series loosely based on the classic novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley. It premiered on the NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock on July 15, 2020. In October 2020, the series was canceled after one season.
Big Shot is an American sports comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley, Dean Lorey and Brad Garrett for Disney+ starring John Stamos, Jessalyn Gilsig, and Yvette Nicole Brown.
The Equalizer is an American crime drama television series that premiered on CBS on February 7, 2021. It is the second reboot in the franchise, following the 2014 film and its 2018 and 2023 sequels, and is a reboot of the 1980s series with the same name.
Carlton Banks is a fictional character portrayed by Alfonso Ribeiro on the NBC television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from September 1990 to May 1996, the preppy and politically conservative cousin, main foil, and eventual close friend to Will Smith's cool and street-smart lead character. The character has been praised for portraying a complex and sympathetic foil with an arc of personal growth over the course of the show. The character is also known for a dance with humorously exaggerated movements developed for the character by Ribeiro, which came to be known as "The Carlton". Ribeiro also crossed over his role as Carlton into the In the House episode "Dog Catchers" before returning the following season as series regular Dr. Maxwell Stanton for the remainder of that series' run.
Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, or simply The Lost Symbol, is an American action-adventure mystery-thriller television series based on Dan Brown's 2009 novel The Lost Symbol. The series is a prequel to the Robert Langdon film series and features Ashley Zukerman as fictional Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. It also stars Eddie Izzard, Beau Knapp, Rick Gonzalez, Valorie Curry and Sumalee Montano in main roles. Dan Trachtenberg directed the series pilot and serves as executive producer on the series alongside Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Brown himself. The series consists of ten episodes, premiered on September 16, 2021, on Peacock. In January 2022, the series was cancelled after one season.
Bel-Air is an American drama television series developed by Morgan Cooper, Malcolm Spellman, TJ Brady, and Rasheed Newson. It is a reimagined version of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and is based on Cooper's short fan film of the same name. It stars Jabari Banks, Adrian Holmes, Cassandra Freeman, Olly Sholotan, Coco Jones, Akira Akbar, Jimmy Akingbola, Jordan L. Jones, and Simone Joy Jones. The series premiered on Peacock on February 13, 2022. The second season was released on February 23, 2023. In March 2023, the series was renewed for a third season.
Westbrook Inc. is an American multimedia and entertainment venture company founded by actor Will Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. The company was founded in 2019, in order to execute the Smith Family's global content. It is headquartered in Calabasas, California, with 80 employees as of March 2021.
Berlanti Productions is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell.