With Jaden Smith now a proven moneymaker, The Smiths are now looking to turn their other spawn, Willow Smith into a multi-quadrant threat. The pint-sized sensation already set the blogosphere on fire with “Whip My Hair” and as was revealed last month, a remake of the kid’s classic musical “Annie” is in the works with her to star. So who better to direct than the man who has single-handedly made singing along to terrible songs cool again?
Deadline reports that “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy is being sought by Sony to direct the remake; he is the studio’s top choice for the job. But nothing is set in stone yet and as the site reports, it’s “early days.” It’s pretty easy to see why Murphy is being eyed for the gig as he’s made musicals much more fashionable with the popularity of “Glee” and certainly knows to spin spectacle out of song. But he’s got his pick of projects right: he’s been approached for big screen versions of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Wicked” and he’s also got the HIV/AIDS play “The Normal Heart” developing with Mark Ruffalo and he also just earned $5 million to write and direct a romantic comedy for Julia Roberts (who he directed in “Eat Pray Love“). So lots of options from a director who we wouldn’t be surprised to learn doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into musical projects.
As these things go, more names are likely to crop up in the coming days for what is certainly a hot property. With Jay-Z is lined up to do the music for the film, and the power of Will Smith producing the project, this one will be served up blockbuster sized.