Aug 31 2009 'Bad Boys 3'!!!
Bad Boys 3!!!:
Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment of the high-octane "Bad Boys" franchise, tapping Peter Craig to pen the screenplay.The hope is to have a script that would reunite director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. At this point, with the project in the early stages, none has a deal to return.
God, get that deal going! My eyes are already spinning with 360-degree camera spins as my ears ring with anticipatory sassy dialogue and blowing ups!
Jan 14 2009 Jackie Chan to Train Jaden Smith to Sand Floors, Paint Fences, Etc.
Big update in regards to how ten-year-old Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son that we're being force-fed as an actor) plans to defend himself against bullies by learning karate: Jackie Chan will teach him karate. From Entertainment Weekly:
Jaden Smith has found himself a mentor. Jackie Chan will take on Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi role in Sony Pictures' remake of The Karate Kid. The movie stars 10-year old Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), who is the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and will be directed by Harold Zwart (The Pink Panther 2). Will's production company, Overbrook, will produce, and Jada has been rumored for the role of Jaden's mother in the film.
This was probably the easiest casting prediction ever, but since I'm never right about anything, let me just note that in November I said:
Let's start the speculation on who will play the "eccentric mentor." The Chinese setting makes Jackie Chan an early prospect, but I could just as easily see Steve Carell or Samuel L. Jackson letting the kid out of the duffel bag to attack.
But wow, adding the director of Agent Cody Banks and wife of Will Smith? I didn't see that coming. If Smith wants to make it a double-awful with double-nepotism, let's just go for the triple--bring in the screenwriter who did Most Valuable Primate and cast some long-estranged uncle of Will Smith (or Mike Myers playing a long-estranged uncle of Will Smith). Or could we use CGI to bring back some deceased relatives of Will Smith who he'd like to see one last time, dead-eyed in the audience of a martial arts tournament? It doesn't even matter anymore.
The scene where Jackie Chan lets Jaden Smith out of a duffel bag to attack will probably be pretty solid though.
Dec 5 2008 'Hancock 2' Will Be Reality
Doing the press rounds for Seven Pounds, Will Smith told JoBlo that Hancock will "definitely" have 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.
See, this makes sense to me. Chapter 1: homeless drunk reforms himself to help people. Chapter 2: it turns out he was only pretending to reform until you let him in your house; then he steals most of your valuables, and when you see him on the same corner a week later, he still has the audacity to ask you for money again. That's always the way it goes with these types.
Nov 25 2008 'I Am Legend' Sequel News Confusing
AICN is reporting that Warner Brothers may have changed plans for an I Am Legend prequel into plans for an I Am Legend sequel, which is odd because Will Smith the Scientist grenades himself at the end of movie. According to the tipster:
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!
I'm anticipating it begins with Will Smith darting up from his bed, panicked.
"Phew, it was all a dream..."
Camera slowly pans over, revealing a vampire thing in bed beside him.
"Alright, 'Legend', can you keep it down? Some of us are nocturnal."
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Then voice-over explains how only the part where he blew himself up was a dream, the rest really did happen, and that his son Jaden is there now for no particular reason.
Nov 19 2008 'Poseidon' Writer Taking a Crack at 'Oldboy'
Mark Protosevich, writer of The Cell, The Poseidon, and The I Am Legend, is being courted by Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to write their ill-conceived Oldboy remake. From the Hollywood Reporter:
In a potential high-profile star-writer reunion, "I Am Legend" co-scribe Mark Protosevich is in early talks to pen the remake of "Old Boy" that boxoffice king and "Legend" star Will Smith is developing with director Steven Spielberg.DreamWorks secured the remake rights from Mandate Pictures, which also is staying involved in the project. Although the studio was meeting with several high-profile writers to do the adaptation, Smith invited Protosevich to meet with Spielberg on the project.
In case you're unfamiliar with Protosevich's writing, here are some samples of what the IMDb has deemed "memorable quotes" from films he's written.
From Poseidon:
Jennifer Ramsey: [walks to poker table with Christian] We're going downstairs now. Robert Ramsey: Ok, have fun... Hey Jen... Jennifer Ramsey: [looks down at her cleavage] The twins? Dad...Elena: I feel like I know your dad.
Jennifer Ramsey: He was mayor of New York for a while, back when I was a kid.
Elena: Cool.
Jennifer Ramsey: It wasn't.
From The Cell:
Carl Stargher: Why are you here... don't lie. Catharine Deane: I came to help you. Carl Stargher: Bitch, whore... Catharine Deane: You sound like your father. Carl Stargher: [in a monster's voice] HE WAS NOTHING, HE IS NOTHING!Carl Stargher: Me got boy! Boy me got!
And from I Am Legend:
Neville: Eat your vegetables. Don't just push 'em around, eat 'em. I ain't playin'!Neville: I like Shrek.
So, in addition to Will Smith starring in an Oldboy remake, this is the kind of writing you can expect. Because out-of-context quotes (some of which may have been added in re-writes by other writers) are always an accurate test of someone's writing ability.
Nov 7 2008 Spielberg Remaking 'Oldboy'--with WILL SMITH
Steven Spielberg (Duel) is in talks to remake the Korean film Oldboy with Will Smith (co-rapper, Summertime) in the lead. Not a joke:
Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park's "Oldboy." DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.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.
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 looking for a writer to begin the development process.
If you haven't seen Oldboy, it's really good, and don't get me wrong, I still like Steven Spielberg despite the Indiana Jones incident, but this like somebody saying, steak is really good, and I really like milkshakes, so I'm going to make a steak milkshake (starring Will Smith).
(Thanks, Chris)
Spielberg, Smith in talks for 'Oldboy' [Variety]
Sep 29 2008 'Seven Pounds' Trailer Helps Everyone It Touches (Up to Seven People)
Whoops, sorry for the late start. Here's the trailer for Seven Pounds, more aggressive melodrama from the Pursuit of Happyness team of director Gabriele Muccino and dramatic thespian Will Smith. Smith did some undefined wrong in the past, and now he's going to help some people in a unmentionable way. I can't take all the vagueness and touching, Pax Network-level drama!
Continue Reading " 'Seven Pounds' Trailer Helps Everyone It Touches (Up to Seven People) "
Sep 26 2008 Soon You Will Learn Exactly How Will Smith Became 'Legend'
Warner Bros. has decided they'd like to add a second film to the I Am Legend catalog, and, after someone explained that Will Smith dies at the end of the last one (spoiler!), they've decided it will be a prequel. From Variety:
The plan is for Smith to reprise his role as scientist Robert Neville, with Francis Lawrence returning to direct. Akiva Goldsman and his Weed Road banner will produce with James Lassiter, Smith’s partner in Overbrook Entertainment.The studio has set D.B. Weiss to write a script that is based on a detailed outline that was hatched over the past few months by Smith, Goldsman, Lassiter and Lawrence.
The prequel will chronicle the final days of humanity in New York before a man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the lone survivor among a mutated mob in the city.
If the prequel does well, will there be a third film, where we go further back, to an even less relevant time and story? Because I'm hoping we can keep going back, eventually building a bridge from I Am Legend to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where the entire plague was in some way caused by the Carlton Dance.
Jul 9 2008 What's With All the Eagle Apparel in This Japanese 'Hancock' Poster?
I still haven't seen Hancock, so someone will have to help me with this one. Does Will Smith derive his powers from the flight of eagles? Is Japanese box office success contingent on the presence of matching, bird-themed t-shirts and pendants? It just seems like a strange decision to so consciously make. "For the Japanese poster, put him in the eagle shirt. Oh, and also find a gold pendant that has that exact same eagle on it. We really want this thing to scream 'eagle.'"
And does the movie end with the world ending in some grandiose, biblical way? Because that also appears to be happening.
Hancock Poster [IMPA]
Jun 3 2008 'Hancock' is Poignant, Particularly on 'Ellen'
Hancock may be getting billed as an action-comedy about a drunk, homeless superhero, but it also has a dramatic, poignant side. So when Will Smith visited Ellen last week, he brought a dinner scene clip sure to make those dance-happy ladies in the audience personally hand him an Oscar--if they could see him through their tears! In it, Hancock explains that he's an amnesiac, how he got his name (a Which Founding Father Are You? Facebook quiz), and that he stopped aging 80 years ago, at precisely the current age of Will Smith. The previously-reserved-for-homemakers clip is under the cut.
Continue Reading " 'Hancock' is Poignant, Particularly on 'Ellen' "
May 2 2008 New 'Hancock' Trailer, Hancock
One of the largest oversights in comic book history is that, despite writers and artists creating some of the most memorable, enduring characters in pop culture, no one ever bothered making a superhero whose power was acting exactly like Will Smith. We can hardly blame them. Who could have anticipated the success of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, or the limitless potential of its young star? But sadly, it has meant that Will Smith has never been granted the opportunity to act in a blockbuster superhero movie, and get all sassy up in it. Writer Vincent Ngo and director Peter Berg have corrected the blunder with Hancock, in which Smith plays a down-and-out superhero with the powers of flight, super-strength, super-invulnerability, and super-acting-like-Will Smith. He may also have the power to make people say his name a ridiculous number of times, if this new trailer is any indication.
Mar 5 2008 'I Am Legend' Alternate Ending Online
The DVD doesn't arrive in stores until March 18, but you can enjoy(?) the original, alternate ending to I Am Legend this very minute, below the cut. Spoiler alert: it turns out Will Smith is not, in fact, legend.
Jan 28 2008 Will Smith Wearing Leather for 'Hancock'
From the trailer, I was never clear on whether Will Smith would don a traditional costume in his hobo-superhero flick, Hancock, or if they considered it funnier to have him fight crime exclusively in filth. This shot from Ropes of Silicon has cleared that up, revealing that Smith will wear a fashion mash-up of the biker leather of X-Men and the bespectacled smugness of Kanye West. Try to figure out what equivalent line to Men in Black's "I make this look good" they'll come up with.
First Look at Will Smith's Superhero Outfit [Ropes of Silicon]
Jan 2 2008 AM Poster Post: 'Hancock' Explores Hobo/Hero Duality
You can tell Will Smith is a superhero because he has the gold-tinged reflection of a metropolis in his goggles, just like the old Spider-Man posters. And you can tell he's homeless because he's filthy and unshaven, like all bums.
Hancock Poster [IMPA]
Dec 17 2007 'Hancock' Teaser Trailer Sure To Depress Hopeful Homeless Population
I'm a fan of mocking and exploiting the homeless for personal amusement as much as the next insensitive, non-homeless person, but with Hancock, Will Smith may have pushed it too far. As funny as the idea of a homeless guy with superpowers may be, if a homeless guy were to see it on-screen (like with his face pressed against your living room window, watching it on your TV), it would surely break what little spirit remains in his hollow, filthy cavern of a soul. I mean, he probably gave up on the idea of getting a job, or even winning the lottery, long ago. Just one insane, utterly implausible hope remains: "maybe I'll get superpowers, and fly out of homelessness." The thought probably never occurred to him that he could be both superpowered and homeless. Nice job, Will.
And, let's be honest, you know if you gave a bum superpowers he'd just waste them on drugs and alcohol.
Continue Reading " 'Hancock' Teaser Trailer Sure To Depress Hopeful Homeless Population "
Oct 24 2007 'I Am Legend' Trailer: A Day in the Life of Will Smith, Vampire Hunter
Will Smith has a long history of successfully defending earth and himself from aliens, robots, criminals, and Carlton, surely earning himself a statue and memorial highway in the near future. But what threat will this quippy one-man army face-off against next?
Vampires, of course.
In I Am Legend, Smith finds himself to be the only living human in a New York City overrun by vampires. This new trailer takes you through his typical day, which I've graciously summarized for you, in case you want to make your day a vampire-hunting Will Smith day.
Continue Reading " 'I Am Legend' Trailer: A Day in the Life of Will Smith, Vampire Hunter "
Oct 11 2007 Smith Playing 'Empire' Mogul, Possibly Oprah
If you've been waiting for a sequel to Ali, in which a decrepit Muhammad Ali makes a series of near-silent talk show appearances to discourage getting your head beaten in at an early age, you've still got a few years until Smith can play the part. But if you've wanted the Fresh Prince and director Michael Mann to team up in absolutely any unspecified way possible, I've got good news: they are!
In a seven-figure pitch deal, Columbia Pictures has acquired "Empire," a drama that John Logan will write for Michael Mann to direct and Will Smith to topline.Neither the studio nor the principals would elaborate on the plot, but sources said that Smith will play a contemporary global media mogul.
I really hope the contemporary global media mogul Smith will play is Oprah. Don't you?
Will Smith rules Columbia's 'Empire' [Variety]
Oct 11 2007 AM Poster Post: 'I Am Legend', 'I' Being Will Smith
Will Smith is the last man on earth, but he's not alone. Why? Because there are also vampires, which aren't officially considered men. And there's this dog. And Jazzy Jeff is still around, living on Smith's couch, but he's also not technically human.
The New I Am Legend Poster [ComingSoon]
Oct 3 2007 Will Smith is Legend, Scientist
Kino has some new shots from the new unstoppable virus plague movie I Am Legend, but I assure you none of them are as hilarious as Will Smith trying his hardest to look both bad-ass and scientific.
"Damn, I gotta get me one a'these [virus analysis scientific computers]! And I'm wearing a watch on each wrist for some reason."
I Am Legend Images [Kino]
Sep 28 2007 'Karate Kid' to be Destroyed by Nine-Year-Old
I'm not one of these guys who things everything from his childhood is sacred. Looking back at G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Transformers, or any of these other '80s hits now being regurgitated by some Hollywood idiots, I have the presence of mind to say, "You know, maybe a show about anthropomorphic cats fighting a transforming mummy wasn't really that stellar to begin with." But with news that The Karate Kid is set to be remade with 9-year-old Will Smith spawn, Jaden, it raises an interesting question: what the f***?
Continue Reading " 'Karate Kid' to be Destroyed by Nine-Year-Old "
