Skip to main content

Jaafar Jackson to star in ‘Supermax’ alongside Will Smith

Jaafar Jackson attends the premiere of ‘Michael’ at Dolby Theatre on April 20, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Christopher Patey/Getty Images for Lionsgate)

Jaafar Jackson has found his next role.

The Michael actor is set to star alongside Will Smith in the upcoming action-thriller film Supermax for Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax, ABC Audio has confirmed.

Pineapple Express and Halloween director David Gordon Green will helm the film. It is set to stream worldwide on Prime Video.

Smith will star as Rex in the film, which is described to be “a propulsive and twist-laden action thriller.” It follows two FBI agents who investigate a murder that has taken place inside the world’s most secure prison.

AnnaSophia Robb has also been cast in the film. She will seemingly play the second FBI agent along with Smith’s Rex.

David Weil and David J. Rosen, who are known for their work on the TV shows Hunters and Invasion, wrote the film. Smith will produce the movie for his company Westbrook.

Jackson, who is the nephew of Michael Jackson, portrayed his uncle in the hit biopic Michael. The Antoine Fuqua-directed film is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time, having surpassed Oppenheimer and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Supermax will mark Smith’s first onscreen appearance since the 2024 film Bad Boys: Ride or Die. That movie was his first major film part after the 2022 incident in which he slapped presenter Chris Rock onstage at the 94th Academy Awards. It was the same night he won his best actor Oscar for portraying Richard Williams in the biopic King Richard.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luigi Mangione’s New York trial delayed

▶ Watch Video: Luigi Mangione's N.Y. state murder trial delayed Luigi Mangione's New York state trial is being delayed. The move comes after Mangione pleaded guilty last week to federal charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. After he entered his guilty plea and admitted to killing Thompson, Mangione's defense team filed a 32-page motion to dismiss his New York case, citing the state's double jeopardy law and calling him a "pawn in parallel prosecutions." Double jeopardy is a clause within the Fifth Amendment that says people can't be prosecuted twice for the same crime. Monday, the judge said that the state trial has been delayed until Dec. 10, which will allow time for the prosecution and defense team to litigate the motion to dismiss. The judge asked prosecutors to respond to the defense's motion to dismiss by Oct. 9, and the defense will then have until Oct. 30 to reply. Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges of interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death. In his state trial, which had been set to start on Sept. 8, he's facing second-degree murder, weapons and forgery charges. A prior first-degree murder charge was thrown out last year. Legal experts have said the double jeopardy argument may be tricky since the charges involved are different. The Manhattan DA's office previously said it has been "tirelessly preparing to pursue a trial conviction" and they were "prepared to litigate the defense motions [to dismiss]."Ultimately, Justice Gregory Carro, who is presiding over the state case, will decide whether the double jeopardy clause applies. No matter which way the judge rules, either side could appeal it, which would mean a further delay on knowing whether this goes forward or not. New York's state law on double jeopardy is widely seen as being more generous to defendants, according to CBS News contributor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles Jessica Levinson. The New York law says defendants can't have successive prosecution for the same course of conduct and same acts, Levinson said last week. "The defense is going to argue that the federal stalking charges and the state murder charges are based on the same set of conduct and the same set of facts," Levinson said. "The prosecution is going to say, 'But wait, there's a carve-out in state law.' And those exceptions deal with situations where the elements of the crimes, the elements of federal stalking versus the elements of the state murder charge, are substantially different.""They have a live argument. There is a vigorous double jeopardy statute in New York state. It's very liberal. New York state does not let you retry somebody for the same activity. But there's an argument here that the federal stalking charges are different than the New York state intentional murder charge. They have different elements. They have a different focus. I think that's going to be a live legal argument and I'm interested to see how that plays out," legal expert Rich Schoenstein previously said.   Mangione will be sentenced in his federal case on Dec. 18. He faces up to life in prison. 
Read Next Story

Related Stories

Latest News
Fact check: Every single part of this Trump story about South Korea is wrong
17 minutes ago

Fact check: Every single part of this Trump story about South Korea is wrong

Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities Fast Facts

Family hopes to restore toy giraffe after losing home in Washington neighborhood

Houston Broadcasting Legend Melanie Lawson Makes Generous $86,000 Donation to NABJ Chapters!

Paramount wants a $1.9 billion bond from state AGs fighting the Warner Bros. merger