Jon Mone Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Jacob Scipio is headed back to the “Bad Boys” universe. Actor Scipio, who most recently starred opposite Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage in the meta adventure “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” will reprise his role as Armando Aretas – the estranged son of Will Smith’s Miami-Dade police detective character Mike Lowery. Scipio is getting a narrative upgrade from his debut in 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life,” we hear, as the script will see him play the main antagonist in the action film led by Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Sony’s latest Bad Boys sequel had a theatrical release date of June 14, 2024. But the studio really wants June 7, and that’s where it’s now dating the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence reteam.

Alex Ritman Will Smith has lined up another hot title to his list of upcoming projects, having signed up to lead the cast of high-octane action thriller “Sugar Bandits.” Based on the Chuck Hogan book “Devils in Exile,” the thriller centres on an Iraq War veteran who teams up with a crew of fellow vets to target the drug trade in Boston. Hogan — whose writing credits include “The Town” and “The Strain” (which he co-wrote with Guillermo del Toro) — penned the screenplay. AGC International and CAA Media Finance represent the film’s worldwide distribution rights and will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming EFM.

Oscar winner Will Smith is attached to star in Sugar Bandits, which is one of the buzziest packages at the EFM market this week in Berlin.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Primetime Emmy nominee Rhea Seehorn has boarded the fourth installment of the $841M grossing Bad Boys franchise.

EXCLUSIVE: Ioan Gruffudd (San Andreas) has closed a deal to join Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys 4, the newest installment in the hit series of buddy cop action comedies from Sony Pictures.

Eric Dane will join Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for a fourth film in Sony Pictures’ Bad Boys franchise.Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are returning to direct from a script by Chris Bremner, which sees the previous cast from Bad Boys: For Life, including Paola Núnez, Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig, returning for the fourth installment.

EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Hudgens is set to reprise her role as weapons expert Kelly in Bad Boys 4 with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Angelique Jackson Hot on the heels of a historic opening weekend for “Creed III,” Jonathan Majors has set his next movie with Amazon Studios, titled “Da Understudy.” Majors will star in and produce the film, under his Tall Street Productions banner, partnering with Westbrook Studios and Amazon. The project tells the story of “life imitating art when the understudy of a Broadway production finds a role he’s willing to kill for.” Tom Hamada, Zach Stauss and Tyler Cole wrote the screenplay, which is based on an original story by Cole and developed in-house by Westbrook. Amazon Studios landed the script on spec in a competitive situation. Sources tell Variety Spike Lee is in very early talks to direct the film, which would reunite the filmmaker and Majors after 2020’s “Da 5 Bloods.”

Today on social media, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announced that they’re definitely reteaming for a fourth Bad Boys movie which is in early pre-production at the studio with Bad Boys for Life Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct from a script by Chris Bremner. 

Amazon’s MGM division is in final negotiations for worldwide distribution rights to a “Night of the Living Dead” sequel from director Nikyatu Jusu. The follow-up to George Romero’s horror classic will come courtesy of Village Roadshow Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Westbrook, Origin Story and the late Romero’s Sanibel Films. Presuming the distribution deal comes to pass, the film, penned by “The Walking Dead” scribe LaToya Morgan, will be distributed by MGM as a theatrical release.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon’s MGM division is in final negotiations to acquire worldwide rights to the Night of the Living Dead sequel that Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny) is directing for Village Roadshow Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Westbrook, Origin Story and the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films.

J. Kim Murphy In a surprise shift to this year’s awards season, Will Smith’s next film “Emancipation” will release in 2022 after all. Apple announced the news Monday, releasing the first trailer for the Antoine Fuqua-directed historical drama. “Emancipation” premieres in theaters on Dec. 2 and will stream on Apple TV+ starting Dec. 9. Though “Emancipation” had originally been set for a 2022 release date, Apple elected to delay the film to 2023 after Smith became embroiled in controversy for slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards. The embattled actor has since publicly apologized for his actions, sharing an emotional video released online in June, but has largely steered clear of the public eye since the Oscar ceremony.

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures has acquired the action-comedy Regulators, starring Nicky Jam, who is also producing via music label La Industria, Inc.

EXCLUSIVE: The Good Doctor co-EP David Renaud, Brandon Magee (Redd Zone), and Howard Burkons (Redd Zone, John Q) are developing a limited series based on the young adult memoir, A Small If, written by disability advocate Elijah Stacy when he was 17 years old.

Serena Williams isn’t opposed to a King Richard sequel. 

Michael B. Jordan to thank for the movie's upcoming sequel. Last week,ET confirmed that Will Smith, who played scientist Robert Neville in the original film, will star opposite the actor in a follow-up flick.“The idea came up,” Smith told ET’s Denny Directo at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Monday about his discussion with Jordan.

I Am Legend is on the way starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan.According to Variety, a follow-up feature – which Smith and Jordan will also produce – is in the works for Warner Bros, with a script penned by Akiva Goldsman.Smith and Jon Mone, co-president and head of motion pictures at Westbrook Studios, will produce with Ryan Shimazaki overseeing, while Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo will produce under their Outlier Society banner.James Lassiter will serve as an executive producer.

Will Smith's set to star opposite Michael B. Jordan in the sequel, ET can confirm.Smith, who starred in the original 2007 film, and Jon Mone, co-president of Westbrook Studios, will produce and James Lassiter will serve as the executive producer.

Angelique Jackson Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and David Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon have partnered with Netflix to produce the film adaptation of “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun.”Based on the upcoming book by British-Nigerian author, journalist and hair care educator Tọlá Okogwu, “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun” tells the tale of a teenager who learns she has powers and travels to Nigeria to learn more about her origins, where she discovers a threat to her newfound magical community.Described as “Black Panther” meets “X-Men” or “Percy Jackson,” the book is the first in an action-packed series for middle-grade children and will be published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and U.K.

(“Soul Assassin,” “Cowboy Bebop,” “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and “The Deuce”) plays Cailloux, a free Black man who serves in the Union Army.The film is inspired by the famous photo circa 1863 known as “The Scourged Back.” The photo, taken during a Union Army medical examination, depicts a runaway slave dubbed “Whipped Peter” who became a symbol for the abolitionist movement when he was photographed in Harper’s Weekly with severe whipping scars all along his back.Smith, James Lassiter and Jon Mone are

Mark David Veteran film production exec Jon Mone, currently co-President and Head of Motion Pictures at Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s production company Westbrook Studios, whose stated mission is no less than “to be the leader in global entertainment,” has sold one snazzy house in Malibu and bought another much larger and more expensive one.Mone, who prior to joining Westbrook was a production bigwig at Universal where he oversaw films like the Oscar-nominated “Straight Outta Compton” and