DEADSHOT Movie Starring Will Smith Was Put On Hold Long Before The Actor's Controversial Oscars Appearance

After Will Smith won a "Best Actor" Oscar for his work in King Richard during this year's Academy Awards, he should have become one of the most in-demand talents in Hollywood. However, Smith's attack on comedian Chris Rock has made him persona non grata, and over the past few weeks, we've seen the next Bad Boys movie put on hold alongside a Netflix project he was attached to.

In Rolling Stone's story about Warner Bros.' decision to "hit pause" on future movies starring The Flash's Ezra Mille (who knows what that means for the DC Extended Universe and Fantastic Beasts franchise), an update about Deadshot is also shared. As you may recall, the spinoff was first mentioned shortly after Suicide Squad was released, but it's never come to fruition.

According to the site, Deadshot remains on hold, though it was on the backburner long before Smith chose to slap Rock for making a G.I. Jane joke. It appears Warner Bros. hoped to make the movie on a budget as "Smith, whose price tag was $20 million for Warner Bros. King Richard, priced himself out well before his controversy." In other words, he wanted too much money. 

That could explain why there was no sign of Floyd Lawton in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, with Idris Elba initially said to be playing Deadshot before he was revealed as Bloodsport. That character was almost identical to Smith's in everything but name and costume, but the odds of Smith getting to reprise the role in the DCEU are now more unlikely than ever before following the Oscars. 

As for The Flash, while its release was recently pushed back to 2023, there's obviously no chance Miller will be recast in the coming months. However, the Multiverse could easily result in the Scarlet Speedster getting a new face by the time that story wraps up. We'll have more on that for you soon!