Will Smith has starred in a lot of movies in his lifetime. One might say he would’ve always been in the minds of any director wanting to make a multi-million dollar movie who just couldn’t figure out which A-lister to choose. Smith is always a safe option in this regard, as he has, not up until the Oscars incident, ever pulled off a controversial moment.
But it must also be kept noted that he was in line to be cast in one of the most successful movie releases of 2018, A Star Is Born, which as we all have seen saw the main lead roles go to Bradley Cooper and pop-icon Lady Gaga. Here’s how Smith missed out on it.
Will Smith Could’ve Led A Star Is Born With Another Popular Celebrity
A Star Is Born has gone through four iterations ever since the very first movie was released back in 1937, then in 1954, in 1976, and now in 2018.
The 2018 version of the movie, which could sort of be called a remake franchise at this point, saw the internet drool and go crazy over Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s onscreen romance. It was a beautiful musical romance that saw it earn a whopping $400+ million at the box office against a budget of just $36 million!
But the question arises over whether or not the movie would’ve been as successful if any other actor was in the lead role(s). In fact, Hancock star Will Smith, alongside popular singer-songwriter Beyonce was considered for the lead role in the 2018 remake but that never materialized.
The star of the 1976 remake of the movie, Barbra Streisand, during an interview with the Australian TV show The Sunday Project, revealed that Smith and Beyonce were the first candidates for the remake-
“At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé, and I thought, that’s interesting. Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors. I thought that was a great idea.”
However, the biggest fault she found in the 2018 remake was that it was too similar to the one she starred in decades ago-
“So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976.”
“I can’t argue with success but I don’t care about so much about success as I do originality.”
Harsh words from the previous star herself. But to be fair, Will Smith and Beyonce would’ve excelled as stars of the movie too, if not better.
Fans Really Wish It Was Will Smith And Beyonce In A Star Is Born
Although Barba Streisand’s words are a year old, it still stings because of what could’ve been. The quote comes up once in a while and fans of Will Smith and Beyonce get super-distraught over it every time they get reminded of it.
Here’s Twitter’s reaction to what would’ve been an equally good remake of A Star Is Born-
The fact that they were meant to be working together either way since Will Smith acted in the King Richard movie for which Beyoncé sang the original song 'Be Alive'. ❤️ https://t.co/tzphWOfJNe
— Antonerys (@antonerys_) December 5, 2022
Should’ve been them! –
why would you tell us this? now I'm depressed https://t.co/dbGuCGAsqH pic.twitter.com/uvjk8TJgTE
— Seulgi Hive 💛🐻🇭🇹 (@kseulgihive) December 5, 2022
It was laid out-
🥹🥹🥹 WHY GOD WHY https://t.co/RtlOz6i5VB
— Dirón (@insidehismind) December 6, 2022
A whole new take would be quite refreshing too-
They should star as a couple in a different movie. Give us some of that Cadillac Records acting. https://t.co/2JXvKtqpTc
— Jor-El (@CylentHill) December 6, 2022
They have the money, so maybe a fifth remake? –
WOWWWWW ROBBED LIKE A MFFFFFFFFFFFFF https://t.co/HwlEnB5ToB
— 🌞LAA OPTIMISTA🌞 (@valentine2fine) December 7, 2022
It’s sad to see that things didn’t turn out like how Streisand wanted them to. We got a cool movie regardless, but the bar just gets higher with this one fact.
A Star Is Born is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: Twitter
