Sony is looking at acquiring the rights to the novel Boy Nobody with the plan to have Jaden Smith starring.
Variety reports that that the studio is looking at the Allen Sadoff novel about a teenage assassin with the intent to have Jaden Smith star in the lead role. The studio beat out 20th Century Fox for the project and now they are in final negotiations with Overbrook Entertainment.
While the first book in the planned trilogy has not even been released yet, Sony is hoping that with the success of darker teen stories like The Hunger Games, a story about a brainwashed teenage assassin will be big in the box office and could lead to a franchise.
Smith would play the character that Zadoff describes as "young soldier trained not to feel; who could function in every situation without fear, sympathy or anger; who could assassinate strangers and then walk away emotionally unscathed."
Smith is filming After Earth with his father and M. Night Shyamalan. His earlier credits include The Karate Kid and The Pursuit of Happyness. He can also be seen in the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still.
