Sony Plans BOY NOBODY Adaptation as Potential Franchise for Jaden Smith

Get ready for Jaden Smith: Action Star.  Following a dramatic turn with his dad, Will Smith, in The Pursuit of Happyness and the blockbuster success of The Karate Kid, Jaden Smith is poised to have a franchise of his own.  Variety reports that Sony is in early talks to acquire the rights to the teen assassin novel Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff, and they’re planning on developing it as a star vehicle for Jaden.  Boy Nobody is the first book in a planned trilogy and centers on a brainwashed teenage assassin who starts to regain his emotions.  The book isn’t in stores yet, but it’s planned to hit shelves next spring.

The protagonist of the story is described as a young Jason Bourne; a teen soldier developed to do what he’s told without those pesky emotions getting in the way.  Jaden is still relatively new to Hollywood, but the true test to see if he can handle heavy action should be the sci-fi pic After Earth.  Jaden stars in the M. Night Shyamalan-helmed thriller alongside his father, Will, and the project is currently in production.  Though he does seem poised to be “the next big thing,” I’m not ready to jump the gun just yet.  Taylor Lautner’s Abduction is still fresh in my memory.  Never forget.