Willow Smith “Annie” Movie Remake

Willow Smith is being courted to take center stage in a remake of the classic movie musical Annie, Variety has learned.

Willow’s famous dad, actor Will Smith, is exploring the idea of remaking a new version of the 1982 film – about a young girl who sings her way through life in an orphanage – with Sony following the success of son Jaden’s summer remake of The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan. That film grossed more than $350 million worldwide.

Will would produce the Annie reboot through his Overbrook Production Company. Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z – who signed Willow to his Roc Nation label late last year – has asked to collaborate on music for the film, the trade paper adds. As hardcore hip-hop heads may recall, Jay-Z created a hip-hop version of “Hard Knock Life,” one of the best-known songs featured in the stage show, for his 1998 Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life LP.

Willow has appeared alongside her father in the 2007 film I Am Legend and also voiced the character of Baby Gloria in animated movie Madagascar 2.

Though Little Orphan Annie, the comic strip that started it all, was discontinued after more than 70 years last summer, Annie is set for a revial on Broadway next year. The show won a Best Musical Tony Award back in 1977.