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There’s no doubt that Will Smith is one of Hollywood’s biggest  power players: he’s one of Tinseltown’s highest paid actors, and if his name is put on a project, chances are pretty good that film is going to do well at the box office.

However, Smith is not one to rest on his laurels and go for easy roles just to bring in the cash. Instead, he’s ever pushing himself forward as an actor, working to expand his repertoire and make his name receive equal accolades for both his comedic and serious work.

His next role will certainly require him to take his acting to the next level.

Smith has signed on with Sony Pictures to produce and star in a modern-day adaptation of Daniel Keyes’s novel Flowers for Algernon. Now, I’m going to have to step aside from the movie part of this for a second to let the book nerd in me address the novel itself for a minute.

If you have not read Flowers for Algernon, you should. It is without a doubt one of the best literary works I have ever read (and I read a lot). It follows the story of Charlie Gordon, a man with an IQ of 68 who volunteers to be a human lab rat for an experimental surgery to increase IQ. The surgery triples Charlie’s IQ, making him significantly more intelligent than those around him, which subsequently leads to him feeling as isolated in the world as he did when his IQ was 68.

The novel raises numerous moral and ethical questions, and even makes the reader look at human nature itself. More importantly though, especially for a screen adaptation, Flowers for Algernon is an incredibly emotionally evocative piece of writing.

It’s told in the form of journal entries by Charlie, starting before his surgery and continuing through the development of his intelligence and his eventual devolution back to low IQ. The writing is made to mirror this progression, starting out with spelling and grammar errors in plain writing before the surgery, and getting more sophisticated as Charlie’s intellect grows.

As Charlie’s intelligence starts to fade away, the reader begins to see errors returning to his writing, and immediately knows Charlie is on a downward descent. This makes the last quarter of the novel absolutely heartbreaking to read.

Now back to the movie. As I said, Flowers for Algernon is going to force Smith to have to take his acting to the next level. Since the movie obviously won’t follow Charlie’s journal entries, Smith is going to have to pour everything he has emotion-wise to make the audience connect to the character to the extent that they can really follow his progression and then relapse.

Smith has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor twice (for Ali in 2001, and The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006), but hasn’t yet won. Given the role and content of the story, it’s likely he could see another nod with Flowers for Algernon, and if he can push his acting ability to the brink and really embody Charlie it could even be the role that finally earns him the win.

Flowers for Algernon will be produced by Smith’s production company Overbrook Entertainment, with Polksy Films as well. Tracy Nyberg, an associate producer on Hancock and an assistant to Will Smith on I Am Legend, is also set to produce.