Maybe the film is apart of a franchise which is why the focus of the film is the mentor? Maybe in the sequel we'll see him in more action?I'm not going to talk a lot about the movie at this point, but it is an origin story AND he will see lots of action.
And lots of naked black women...at least a lot of ebony breasts!;D kudos for going there in text, Mastrmynd (I was going there in my head, but I figured i'd get slammed).. this needs to be more of a trend in mainstream cinema.. music-video near-nudity aside, you don't see black chicks featured in the American Pie/Old School/Hangover genre, and you almost never really see black girls have pam grier/jeanne bell moments in film, anymore.. :-\
Just last month, a story circulated around Hollywood that Quentin Tarantino was desperately pursuing Smith as the lead for his next movie, Django Unchained, in which a freed slave teams up with a German bounty hunter to find his wife and ends up killing a bunch of plantation owners along the way.17 Supposedly the script is incredible. Supposedly Smith's agents at CAA and even his manager begged him to play Django. And supposedly, Smith turned it down. He didn't want to risk what he had. He didn't want people to meet Angry Slave Will Smith. He didn't want to mess with a sure thing.
So yeah, Will Smith might be our only movie star right now, but that says more about Hollywood's faults than anything else. Goldman once wrote that, in Hollywood, nobody knows anything. He was wrong. Will Smith figured out where Hollywood was going well before anyone else. These days, it's all about making alien movies, superhero movies and sequels. Will Smith beat everybody there. He could see the future … and the future sucked. You can't call him a failure because he accomplished exactly what he wanted to accomplish. But shouldn't his career have been better? Didn't he have a responsibility to push himself? Isn't that what good actors are supposed to do?
From The Movie Star ([url]http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6716942/page/2/the-movie-star[/url]) by Bill SimmonsQuoteJust last month, a story circulated around Hollywood that Quentin Tarantino was desperately pursuing Smith as the lead for his next movie, Django Unchained, in which a freed slave teams up with a German bounty hunter to find his wife and ends up killing a bunch of plantation owners along the way.17 Supposedly the script is incredible. Supposedly Smith's agents at CAA and even his manager begged him to play Django. And supposedly, Smith turned it down. He didn't want to risk what he had. He didn't want people to meet Angry Slave Will Smith. He didn't want to mess with a sure thing.
So yeah, Will Smith might be our only movie star right now, but that says more about Hollywood's faults than anything else. Goldman once wrote that, in Hollywood, nobody knows anything. He was wrong. Will Smith figured out where Hollywood was going well before anyone else. These days, it's all about making alien movies, superhero movies and sequels. Will Smith beat everybody there. He could see the future … and the future sucked. You can't call him a failure because he accomplished exactly what he wanted to accomplish. But shouldn't his career have been better? Didn't he have a responsibility to push himself? Isn't that what good actors are supposed to do?
The article is pretty interesting. This is the part pertinent to this thread.
I'm sure it could still have been interesting if Will would have done it.. kind of an anti-Wild Wild West (I liked most of that film but was disappointed in some parts)..
This is bit off-topic but I just saw Posse the other day and remembered that was another cowboy flick with black folks in the cast where I liked most of the story but was disappointed in some parts.
This is bit off-topic but I just saw Posse the other day and remembered that was another cowboy flick with black folks in the cast where I liked most of the story but was disappointed in some parts.
As a 12 year old boy seeing his first nudity in a movie theater, this movie will always have a place close to my heart ;D
This is bit off-topic but I just saw Posse the other day and remembered that was another cowboy flick with black folks in the cast where I liked most of the story but was disappointed in some parts.
As a 12 year old boy seeing his first nudity in a movie theater, this movie will always have a place close to my heart ;D
You were 12 years old when this movie came out? Sheeesh! :P
This is bit off-topic but I just saw Posse the other day and remembered that was another cowboy flick with black folks in the cast where I liked most of the story but was disappointed in some parts.
As a 12 year old boy seeing his first nudity in a movie theater, this movie will always have a place close to my heart ;D
You were 12 years old when this movie came out? Sheeesh! :P
Hey, I just turned 30 on Sunday. I'm ready for file for AARP 8)
Is it that a Hollywood team was turned down by Will Smith because he didn't want to tarnish his (rather unique)Hollywood box office appeal that's pertinent to this thread?
This is bit off-topic but I just saw Posse the other day and remembered that was another cowboy flick with black folks in the cast where I liked most of the story but was disappointed in some parts.
As a 12 year old boy seeing his first nudity in a movie theater, this movie will always have a place close to my heart ;D
You were 12 years old when this movie came out? Sheeesh! :P
Hey, I just turned 30 on Sunday. I'm ready for file for AARP 8)
....but you sound just like a 16 year old with that comment. :) 30 years old does not qualify you for AARP. ::)
The relationship to this thread is just the straightforward connection: Jamie Foxx gets this opportunity because Will Smith passed. Time will tell whether that was a smart decision.
The article is more a critique of Hollywood and how Will Smith accurately analyzed the game to create his box office appeal through shrewd choices. It does compare Will Smith to Chris Webber in a way that is interesting but not completely apt to me. (It seems to me that Mr. Smith has always worked hard with intense discipline and focus. The same cannot be said of Mr. Webber.) On the other hand, it does seem clear that Mr. Smith has set his sites on becoming a superstar instead of striving for "greatness" (whatever that might mean in the Hollywood context). That may well be a wise choice on his part.
I haven't read the article except for the little excerpt you quoted but Will Smith has been truly fortunate with his movie career where he can actually turn down Hollywood roles rather than accept any offer that comes his way. I'm still in amazement of Will Smith's immense success in show business. Incredible. Who would've thought... :-\
From The Movie Star ([url]http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6716942/page/2/the-movie-star[/url]) by Bill SimmonsQuoteJust last month, a story circulated around Hollywood that Quentin Tarantino was desperately pursuing Smith as the lead for his next movie, Django Unchained, in which a freed slave teams up with a German bounty hunter to find his wife and ends up killing a bunch of plantation owners along the way.17 Supposedly the script is incredible. Supposedly Smith's agents at CAA and even his manager begged him to play Django. And supposedly, Smith turned it down. He didn't want to risk what he had. He didn't want people to meet Angry Slave Will Smith. He didn't want to mess with a sure thing.
So yeah, Will Smith might be our only movie star right now, but that says more about Hollywood's faults than anything else. Goldman once wrote that, in Hollywood, nobody knows anything. He was wrong. Will Smith figured out where Hollywood was going well before anyone else. These days, it's all about making alien movies, superhero movies and sequels. Will Smith beat everybody there. He could see the future … and the future sucked. You can't call him a failure because he accomplished exactly what he wanted to accomplish. But shouldn't his career have been better? Didn't he have a responsibility to push himself? Isn't that what good actors are supposed to do?
The article is pretty interesting. This is the part pertinent to this thread.
I think you'll like the article. Among other stuff it covers Will Smith's deliberate strategy for choosing projects based on his analysis of what makes a box office hit. Although he has been kind of risk averse since Six Degrees of Separation, it's hard to argue with the results.
He's doing Men in Black 3 right now. Who asked for another sequel to that franchise?
Actually MIB 2 didnt do that well domestically. It didnt flop, but it wasnt a box office smash either, which explains the decade long hiatus. Everyone involved in the original two films needs a hit right now, so they go to a well known brand...even if it is one that the audiences arent really excited about.Hades?
Bad Boys 2 didnt exactly light up the box office either, but I cant really see Smith doing a hardcore 'R' rated action film right now. He needs something to shake up his image, but he's playing things safer now than ever before. Plus Martin Lawrence is box office poison. As calculating as Smith is, I don't think he's going to share the marquee with the brother anytime soon. Added to all of that, Bay is a box office God now with these Transformer movies. Going back to do another Bad Boys movie seems counter-intuitive. It'd be like James Cameron going back to do a sequel to The Abyss. :D
There was talk of an I am Legend prequel a couple of years ago, but that project, thankfully, died.
There's a sequel to Hancock being written supposedly. Hopefully they take a little more time with the script this time because the first one... ??? :( >:(
I JUST read this article. Bill Simmons is a God.
Not just getting it, more like reading it and it hitting me all over again.I JUST read this article. Bill Simmons is a God.
You're just getting hip to that ;D
His articles are always great and I love his podcasts.