Will Smith and ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ Cast to Reunite for HBO Max Special

The cast of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is going to reunite according to an entertainment portal. Will Smith along with his co-stars, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and Alfonso Ribeiro, are going to reunite for a 30th anniversary special on HBO Max Special.

Along with the series regular, there are reports about special appearances from surprise guests. DJ Jazzy Jeff, who recurred on the show and previously collaborated on music with Will, is one of them.

Marcus Raboy is directing the unscripted special, according to the streaming platform. The show is scheduled to start filming from September 10, which is also the day the sitcom premiered on NBC.

The comedy sitcom had six seasons and it first premiered in 1990 on NBC. The entire series is currently available to stream on HBO Max. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is getting a reboot. The actor is going to executive produce a ‘gritty, dramatic reimagining’ reboot of the show.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is the show that put Will on the map. It is said to be based on a fan-made trailer last year which went viral. The trailer was made by Fresh Prince fan, Morgan Cooper. The tagline said, ‘What would happen if Will Smith made The Fresh Prince today? Bel-Air, a story of a kid from Philly whose life got turned upside-down… in 2019.’

It went viral last year in March and since then it has over five million views. The fan-made trailer has sparked conversations about the NBC hit comedy, from fans to individuals within the industry.

Fresh Prince to Touch on Police Brutality

The trailer does consist of some troops from the original series. It had intense messages about police brutality as well as the moment Will’s mother tells him, ‘The only reason why you’re not in jail is because uncle Phil called in a favor!’

Even the choice of the garments is updated to today’s trend as well. It consists of garment taglines like ‘Free Meek’ and ‘What would Meek do’. This is a reference to Meek Mill who was fighting for justice in the US system following a disputed conviction in 2007.

Morgan will co-write the project as well as direct it. He will also be a co-executive producer along with Will. The team of executive producers includes Quincy Jones, Benny Medina, Andy and Susan Borowitz, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’s original creators, and producers, among others.

It hasn’t been reported where the show will be viewable but it has been shopping around. This includes HBO Max where the original show is still being broadcasted. The original series was on TV from 1990 until 1996. This enabled Will to be established as a comedy star and also earned him two Golden Globe. He won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. 

Will continued to become a huge star by grabbing hits like Independence Day, the first Men In Black movie, Bad Boys and I Am Legend. These movies had one of the huge box office draws of the decade.

It also hasn’t been confirmed if Will would be playing his iconic character in the reboot. An actor by the name of Jerry Madison portrayed his character in the gritty Bel-Air trailer from last year. It is also not confirmed if the rest of the cast will also be on camera for the series. The original series included Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, and Joseph Marcell.

Actor James Avery, who played Will’s conservative and rich uncle Phil, passed away at age 68 in 2013. The cast of the show reunited for a tearful tribute to the actor during their Snapchat reunion this past April. 

Meanwhile, this is just one of the special reunions that HBO Max has planned. The network is also airing the reunion of the Friends sitcom for a new in-audience special. It is also reported to be unscripted and unfortunately, it has been pushed forward because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The network will also have West Wing cast for a staged production of the political drama’s season 3 episode “Hartsfield’s Landing” for an election special benefiting When We All Vote.