Jay-Z has confirmed a new deal with Will Smith and Columbia Pictures to release movies, after news of a planned remake of the hit 1982 movie Annie hit the news.
Jay-Z and Will Smith previously teamed to produced the hit Broadway musical Fela! They also own a portion of makeup company Carols Daughter.
The pair are hoping Broadway will pay off again with the remake of “Annie,” which originally ran as a Broadway play starting in 1977 until 1983.
The following year, it was turned into a hit movie with the same name.
The remake of “Annie” is being developed by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures, with Jay-Z
and Will Smith acting as producers.
“The Overbrook Entertainment family and I have a unified vision,” Jay-Z said in a statement today. “We’ve already produced a Tony Award winning play and we’re developing a true superstar in Willow. This venture into film development and production is a perfect next step with teams that are accomplished, creative, and innovative.”
According to James Lassiter, co-founder of Overbrook Entertainment, Will Smith and company are very excited to continue their partnership with Jay-Z.
“We are excited to partner together to develop and produce a wide variety of films with our longtime friend Jay-Z, with whom we share a common global vision, both commercially and philosophically, and look forward to collaborating once again with the incredibly talented executives at Sony,” added Lassiter.
(All Hip Hop )