This Fan Film Imagines a "Grim and Gritty" Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reboot

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste

Read our announcement | See the 10 Best Games of 2025 (So Far)

Ever wonder what The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air might look like if it suddenly returned to the airwaves in 2019? Well, given Hollywood’s current penchant for giving everything a “dark” and “gritty” backstory, it would probably look quite a bit like this superbly made fan film by director Morgan Cooper. Simply titled Bel-Air, it gives Will Smith’s young “Will” a considerably more dire origin story while keeping all of the major Fresh Prince beats intact.

Filmed in crisp, high-resolution video, Bel-Air certainly does a good job of suggesting Will’s fish-out-of-water status when he arrives with his rich uncle and auntie in California. The short trailer looks like one part Creed and another The O.C., with its high school adventures set against the intense, dramatic backdrop of a young man grappling with being able to accept a life of luxury that he did not earn.

Oh, and it’s got about half a second of the Carlton dance as well, although the “kids these days” probably are referring to it as “that Fortnite dance” by this point. Regardless, this trailer is so slickly made that we wouldn’t be surprised if plenty of viewers believed this to be a real project. And who knows? With the blessing (and considerable pull) of Will Smith, perhaps it actually could be some day. If Riverdale can keep airing on TV, after all, then surely there’s a place for this weird-ass Fresh Prince revival.

Check out the complete trailer for Bel-Air below.

This Fan Film Imagines a “Grim and Gritty” Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reboot