Filmonic » Will Smith

Men in Black 3 gets a writer

Liam — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:04:41 +0000

Columbia have hired Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen to work on the script for Men in Black 3. Variety say that there are no deals currently in place for Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to return, although they doubt Columbia would be moving forward without their involvement. Columbia could always do what everyone else is doing nowadays and use Men in Black 3 to reboot the franchise, and if Smith and Jones aren’t interested then that might be their only option.

Men in Black was released in 1997 and made $589 million worldwide, it was then followed by Men in Black 2 which didn’t do as well with $441 million.

Will we see an Independence Day 2?

Liam — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:09:58 +0000

Latino Review got the chance to interview director Roland Emmerich while he was on the rounds promoting his latest end of the world movie 2012, and they asking him about making a sequel to his 1996 end of the world movie Independence Day.

LatinoReview: I heard there was a script for a sequel. What’s the real reason there is no sequel?
Emmerich: Dean Devlin and I are still set to make a sequel likely because we’ve found some sort of idea and we approached FOX and FOX has not quite figured out how to incorporate Dean’s and my deal, and Will’s (Smith) deal. Will wants to do it in some sort of a package they can live with. So it’s just been in negations now since forever, and naturally FOX says “Why don’t you do it without Will Smith?” I said Will is essential for us, for this movie and actually for the audience too. And, so, it’s in limbo and lately the studios are fighting. Like gross players, and Will is a gross player and is probably the only gross player right now who’s worth his gross. So we’ll see what happens. I would love to do it.
LatinoReview: But there is a story right?
Emmerich: Oh yeah! There’s a story. There’s a very really good great story, a very cool one.

So the sequel may movie forward if they can sort out who’s getting paid what. Everyone knows Will Smith brings in the money, and he will no doubt be asking for his share.

For Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Harrison Ford turned down an upfront fee and instead made a deal to take a % of the box office gross. As the movie made $786 million worldwide he walked away with a cool $43.3 million. Independence Day made $817 worldwide. Can you see what Smith and Emmerich are thinking here? And can you see why Fox are trying to get Emmerich to do it without Smith? They don’t want to pay him $40+ million or whatever the deal is. I haven’t done the numbers but i’d say Smith was worth it. He’s got worldwide appeal, not many actors have that.

Would you be up for an Independence Day 2? Would you see the sequel if Will Smith wasn’t involved?

Will Smith and Charlize Theron back for Hancock 2

Liam — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:21:58 +0000

Last month Columbia hired two writers to start writing Hancock 2, and now director Peter Berg has confirmed that both Will Smith and Charlize Theron will be back for the sequel.

In a conversation before he heads to the Toronto film festival with a Wayne Gretzky documentary, Berg confirmed for MTV News that both Smith and Theron will certainly be returning for more “Hancock” hero-dom.
“Everybody’s going to come back for a sequel,” Berg said in response to a question about the two megastars.

If you didn’t see the first film and don’t want to be spoiled then stop reading now. At the end of the first film it turned out that both Smith and Theron’s characters are immortal gods who become vulnerable when near each other. Berg has said recently that he we can expect the appearance of at least one more all-powerful god in the sequel, and he already has his eye on who he wants to play him/her.

“We have [someone in mind],” Berg said. “I’m not gonna tell you who, but we have!”

It’ll still be a while before we see Hancock 2 but it’s cool that the main cast are returning (although we expected Smith to return anyway).

Hancock 2 gets writers

Liam — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:22:28 +0000

Less than a week ago director Peter Berg said that “Will’s busy [and] I’m pretty busy” however they were “excited to do [Hancock 2], but [they] want the script to be right and the movie to be right.”

Well Columbia must have been listening, as according to THR they’ve hired Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write Hancock 2. Plot details are being kept under wraps, though they will work with Smith and director Peter Berg to build on the world hinted at in the first movie. Berg said last week that “there might be another god out there”, so we’ll probably get another A-list actor in a suit.

As Berg and Smith are busy it’ll probably be a few years before we see Hancock 2, but at least they’ve started working on it.

Peter Berg Talks Hancock 2

Liam — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:19:20 +0000

Last year Will Smith said that we would ‘definitely’ see a Hancock 2 and that there’s a lot of unexplored characters in the Hancock universe that would be ripe for a sequel. As Hancock made $624 million worldwide it seems like an obvious decision business-wise, however director Peter Berg told Sci fi Wire that it won’t be happening any time soon as he and Will are busy. That didn’t stop him sharing his ideas though.

At the end of last year’s Hancock, it was revealed that Will Smith’s superpowered character was actually an immortal god who became vulnerable only when in the presence of his goddess companion (Charlize Theron). Berg confirmed that a sequel would elaborate on the film’s mythology.
“There might be another god out there,” Berg said in an exclusive interview last month in Pasadena, Calif. “Might be another one.”
Of course, Columbia Pictures would love another Will Smith blockbuster for the earliest possible summer position. Smith and Berg, however, are in no rush. “They like to fast-track it, but Will’s busy, I’m pretty busy,” Berg continued. “We’re excited to do one, but we want the script to be right and the movie to be right. We don’t feel a burning imperative to go right back into it.”

I thought Hancock was a fun ride but there are far more deserving (and better) superheroes who should be getting a movie. Although, i’d probably see the sequel if they eventually get round to making it. Would you be up for Hancock 2?

I Am Legend Origins: Sam

Liam — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:31:05 +0000

While promoting Seven Pounds Will Smith spoke to Collider about the I Am Legend prequel we’ve been hearing about. Turns out they have a pretty cool idea for the prequel, and the coolest news of all is that we will once again get to see Sam the dog!

Collider: Speaking of Robert Neville and I am Legend, there has been a lot talk about you possibly doing a prequel or sequel to that film. Could you tell us what it is and what excites you about going back to that character?
Will Smith: We have a fantastic prequel idea…we’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story. It’s essentially the fall of the last city – the last stand of Manhattan. The movie would be…within the body of the movie D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city. It’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out…there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York.
Collider: Will the dog be back in it?
Will Smith: Yes, the dog will be a puppy.

Will Smith says we will ‘definitely’ see Hancock 2

Liam — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:00:01 +0000

The reviews for Hancock weren’t that great, however if a movie makes $624 million worldwide does that really matter? Of course not! Therefore it isn’t the biggest surprise in the world to hear that Hancock 2 may eventually get made.

From Joblo.com:

We just got done talking to Will Smith, who’s promoting SEVEN POUNDS, and he told us that we’ll “definitely” be seeing a sequel.
When we asked Will if he’d ever be up for playing another superhero he replied that there were a lot of unexplored characters in the HANCOCK universe that would be ripe for a sequel and confirmed that we’ll definitely see the rumored HANCOCK 2 in a few years. So who do you think these “unexplored characters could be?”.

I Am Legend Prequel Now A Sequel?

Liam — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:34:11 +0000

According to a source who got in touch with AICN, the planned I Am Legend prequel may now be something different…

Let’s start at the beginning. Smith is actually the one who developed the initial story. It took place several years before the original film and there were still pockets of survivors and the story centered around Smith interacting, bonding, and ultimately failing to save them. For months this was the story. Warner’s didn’t much care for it and Smith and Weiss eventually came on board and all parties agreed to change things up. Well this change is pretty insane, the film is no longer a prequel, it’s a fucking sequel!

If this is true the only problem I see is that [spoiler] Will Smith blew himself up at the end of I Am Legend. If the writers can get around that sticky situation then everything should be cool.

Steven Spielberg And Will Smith Team Up For ‘Oldboy’ Remake

Liam — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:15:10 +0000

According to Variety, Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park’s Oldboy.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge. I haven’t seen the original, however it is ranked #117 on IMDB’s Top 250 movies, therefore it must be worth a view.

Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is currently looking for a writer to begin the development process.

Below is the trailer for the original Oldboy, so you can get an idea about what to expect.

Will Smith Gets Braveheart Writer

Liam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:35:51 +0000

Back in March we heard that Chris Hauty was polishing a script by Carl Franklin called The Last Pharaoh, which evolves around Taharqa, a pharaoh who battled Assyrian invaders in ancient Egypt. The film caught the attention of Will Smith, who has now got Braveheart writer Randall Wallace to give it a work over. Smith will obviously be playing Taharqa, and it will be the first time we see Willard in a historical epic.

However, hiring a good writer is half the battle. A good director will be needed and Will Smith needs to expand his acting abilities as his trademark ‘Aww hell naw‘ attitude wouldn’t work in an ancient Egyptian setting. Unless of course…it’s a comedy.