Less than one week since LUXE LIFE posted its exclusive interview with Bellagio Chef Jeff Henderson, just hours before he went on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss his extraordinary life story for the first time, Oscar winning actor Will Smith has signed to make a major motion picture of the ex-drug dealer's tale of redemption. Jeff became a chef while serving time for being a crack cocaine dealer. His book 'Cooked' was only published two weeks ago by William Morrow!Will intends Jeff's journey from ''Streets to the Stove, From Cocaine to Foie Gras' to be a follow-up to the nearly $300-million worldwide success of his latest mega-hit 'The Pursuit of Happyness.' Click here for the first major story on LUXE LIFE about Jeff's incredible tale that began with him dealing drugs and cocaine in San Diego and winding up with a 20-year prison sentence before turning his life around and eventually becoming a celebrity chef here as head honcho at Cafe Bellagio!
All the Happyness partners plan to reunite on the chef's project. Will and partner James Lassiter at Overbrook Entertainment will team with Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal who produced Happyness which won Smith a best actor Oscar nomination. Will Smith and Lassiter met with Jeff during the Hollywood contract negotiations. They said: "He is a truly inspiring individual. After meeting him we knew we had to turn his story into a movie. We couldn't be more happier about all working together again to bring Jeff's powerful story to life on the big screen." SONY will handle the mega-million-dollar movie, as it did with Will's last film. Hollywood spies tell me the contract terms, negotiated between Jeff's agents at The Culinary Cooperative and Regal Literary and the United Talent Agency that brokered the deal with SONY for Will's producing partners, are substantial "seven-figure numbers." "It's one of the fastest deals ever done in Hollywood within hours of a book being released and getting instant traction," I was told. You'd think they all might be loyal LUXE LIFE readers with the speed this deal was concluded!
LUXE LIFE will follow this developing story and will report shooting dates and locatiin details as they become available. Our sincere congratulations to Chef Jeff Henderson at the Bellagio, and we hope he's celebrating there with champagne this afternoon!
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1. I for one will not be buying this chef's book or going to see the film. Unless he donates every dollar that he makes from the book and movie to a charity I think it is wrong that he should be able to profit like this from his earlier life of crime. Oprah and Will Smith .... there's better and more deserving people out there that could use your exposure rather than the likes of this guy.
MW at 11:47PM on Mar 7th 2007