Will And Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Company Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith could have retired a long time ago, and their jerseys would go into the rafters immediately. However, they are fully committed to the grind and said so in a major way recently as their entertainment company, Westbrook, signed a first-look deal with Paramount.

According to a press release, Westbrook’s focus will be on putting together “global, four-quadrant theatrical movies” that could lead to franchises and are inspired by pre-existing properties. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star will be a lead actor in the films, and his wife will help out on the production end.

Paramount also announced two projects that are already in the works: Sugar Baby, which is based on Chuck Hogan’s novel Devils In Exile, and Rabbit Hole, which is being written by Jon Spaihts, one of the screenwriters for Dune. Another notable part of this deal is that Westbrook will be housed on Paramount’s lot in Hollywood.

This partnership’s forthcoming films will follow the impactful work Westbrook has already made with movies like Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Emancipation, and King Richard, which helped Smith win his first Oscar. In 2022, they sold a minority stake of the company to Candle Media, an entertainment venture run by Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, who previously worked at Disney.

Paramount has been making major moves itself. They completed an $8 million merger with Skydance and courted The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, from Netflix. On top of that, they paid $7.7 billion to become the home for UFC events for the next seven years.