Will Smith to play lead role in sci-fi film Resistor

Will Smith is to lead the cast of the sci-fi film 'Resistor'.

The 55-year-old actor is attached to star in the movie that is based on Daniel Suarez's book 'Influx'.

Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and Tony Shaw are producing the film for Escape Artists while Eric Warren Singer penning the latest draft of a script that was initially written by Zak Olkewicz.

Suarez's 2014 novel is a sci-fi thriller that centres on physicist Jon Grady and his team after the discovery of a device that can reflect gravity – a triumph that promises to revolutionise physics and change the future.

However, Grady's lab is locked down by a covert organisation known as the Bureau of Technology Control (BTC). The bureau's mission is to suppress the truth about technological innovation and the social upheaval it would cause.

When Grady refuses to join the BTC, he's thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison with other rebellious intellects.

As the last hope of helping humanity escape from its artificial dark age, Grady and his fellow prisoners must expose the secrets of an unimaginable enemy with a powerful technological advantage.

Escape Artists have been working on the picture for some time and the studio and producers viewed it as the ideal star vehicle for Smith – who is fresh off the box office success of 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'.

Meanwhile, Will recently discussed how improvements in the TV industry have made it harder to make a hit movie.

Speaking on the latest episode of Hot Ones, Will said: "The definition of a hit is still pretty much the same. Essentially, it's just harder to get one.

"You used to be able to put some explosions in the trailer and a couple of good jokes and people were there. And television is so good, there are things that people just aren't going to leave their house for. There's definitely a higher demand for a certain type of film for people to leave their homes."