"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" could become an indie movie soon

2020 is going to be an important year for all the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s fans.
It’s already been 30 years since the release of the 90’s iconic sit-com that consecrated Will Smith as an international star. But despite the unconditional love of its fans, some gritty Instagram posts from Alfonso Ribeiro (who played Carlton Banks on the show) and the unstoppable nostalgia-trend of 90s culture, the sad truth is that there are still no real plans for a sequel or an actual reboot of the series. As a matter of fact, it’s Will Smith himself that told Graham Norton that he doesn’t feel that cool to sit once again on the throne of the Prince of Bel-Air:

“I’d have to be Uncle Phil in that one. I’m about to be 50, you know. Like, ‘Come on Aunt Viv, I’m 50, I can’t go out on my own?”

But we're sure that in the web 2.0 era everything could happen, but most of all, we have not to underestimate the power of a strong fan-base. Last week, indeed, a trailer was uploaded on YouTube with the title Bel-Air (2019). In a few days, the video went viral. The question was: what would be The Fresh Prince today? The answer is it would be a mix between an indie movie and a Kendrick Lamar's videoclip.

The story is more or less as we remember it. Will (Jerry Madison) is a Philly kid spending most of his days on the playground, chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool – and all shootin some b-ball outside of the school. This until the day when a couple of guys – who were up to no good – started making trouble in his neighborhood. He got in one little fight and… Well, you know how this story goes on. Will suddenly finds himself living in the crazy-rich house of his crazy-rich uncle in Bel-Air, West Coast.

The trailer there is everything we could have ever dreamed of: orange juice out of a champagne glass and, of course, a taste of some Carlton Dance moves. But something’s different. It’s Will himself that recognizes it: “My life ain’t a sit-com” – and this is, by far, the story of how The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s “got flipped-turned upside down”. It’s no more time for a sit-com: this new, fan-made version of the series is dark and full of drama, it looks more like a film by Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) or Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) and it has the same color pattern of an episode of Atlanta. In this brand-new Bel-Air there are guns, Jordan sneakers and so many gloomy fading to black. Oh, and more than one reference to Meek Mill.

Morgan Cooper, the fan and director, has a clear idea of his project:

“I felt like growing up I always thought there was more to the story more behind the sitcom format. I thought, ‘Wow, we could take this story and really ground it in reality in a really dramatic way.’”

And the web’s answer didn’t come late: in just one week the video has reached almost 3 millions views, exciting users from all over the world (someone even started to tag @netflix to actually convince them to produce a real movie) and it even reached some small and big-screen stars.

Unfortunately, listening to the director, there is still no actual project to turn it into a real movie.

“When we first made this thing I was really confident in the art. The internet’s the internet. You never if something’s gonna catch a spark or not” – he said to OkPlayer – “I’m very excited for everything that has happened and receive it humbly. But at the end of the day I’m a black creative and representing my culture and expressing myself authentically is of the utmost importance to me.”

We just have to cross our fingers.