Awww Hell Yeah! Will Smith Is Not Captain America!
Hey folks, Harry here to restore your faith in the world - Multiple sources from MARVEL have confirmed that Derek Luke, of Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to Will Smith and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Marvel never offered the part, nor did they approach or entertain a conversation about Will Smith for CAPTAIN AMERICA. That said - I’m sure they have a few parts that they’d like him for, just not Captain America.
So there ya go. They haven’t gone insane and we don’t need to be confused, angry and scared about it anymore. — harry from AICN
Is Will Smith The New Captain America?
When Marvel announced that “Captain America” was making its way to the big-screen, fans everywhere began speculating who would be donning the famous red-white-and-blue tights. Nothing has been heard since, but during an MTV News interview regarding his role in “Miracle at St. Anna,” actor Derek Luke let slip that a very prominent - and surprising - face could be the star of Marvel Studios’ next blockbuster film.
“I heard they offered Will Smith ‘Captain America,’” said Luke, adding that the intriguing casting rumor “just shows you how times have changed.”
While this word through the Hollywood grapevine is nothing more than a rumor at this point, it should be noted that Marvel hasn’t shied away from changing up the race - and gender - of established characters in recent years. Upon kicking off his celebrated take on “The Ultimates” (Marvel’s re-imagining of their classic superteam The Avengers), Mark Millar changed S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho Nick Fury from a crew-cut, cigar-chomping, middle-aged white man to, well… Sam Jackson.
- from MTV
Will Smith puts on ‘Pharaoh’ hat
Will Smith may next morph into a god.
“Braveheart” scribe Randall Wallace will write “The Last Pharaoh,” a Columbia drama crafted as a vehicle for Smith to play Taharqa, the pharaoh who battled Assyrian invaders in ancient Egypt.Smith, James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz will produce for Overbrook Entertainment.
Smith, who has long wanted to play the pharaoh, brought Wallace the Taharqa story.
The film will focus on his battles with Assyrian leader Esarhaddon starting in 677 B.C.
Smith next stars for Columbia in “Seven Pounds,” a reteam with “Pursuit of Happyness” director Gabriele Muccino that Overbrook produced with Escape Artists.
- from Variety
Sony Sets ‘Hancock’ Blu-ray for November
After weeks of speculation, Sony Pictures has confirmed a late-November Blu-ray touchdown for the Will Smith blockbuster ‘Hancock.’
Originally rumored for an early-December release, fans will get the $200 million-plus-grossing superhero spoof earlier than expected when Sony debuts the Blu-ray of ‘Hancock’ on November 25, day-and-date with the standard DVD.
ADVERTISEMENTAs the studio has only just issued a trade alert for ‘Hancock,’ all tech specs and supplement details are still under wraps. We’ll certainly keep you posted as soon as the full press announce comes in.
Suggested retail price for the Blu-ray has been set at $38.95.
- from HDDigest
Variety’s Hancock Review, Thumbs down on Will Smith
An intriguing high concept is undermined by low-grade dramaturgy in “Hancock.” This misguided attempt to wring a novel twist on the superhero genre has a certain whiff of “The Last Action Hero” about it, with Will Smith playing an indestructible crime-buster in a pointedly real-world context. Although it will inevitably open very large, this odd and perplexing aspiring tentpole will provide a real test of Smith’s box office invincibility.
The central idea of Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan’s script — of Smith’s John Hancock being an ornery, unwilling hero who escapes from his ordained role in life via booze and general cantankerousness — is amusing and plausible enough to sustain the first section of the film. What the writers and director Peter Berg do with the concept in the end, however, is nowhere near sufficiently thought out, and narrative illogic and missed opportunities plague the film increasingly as it cartwheels through its surprisingly brief running time.
from Variety
Men In Black coming to Blu-ray on June 17th
Official press release below!
Mega-star Will Smith (Hancock) and Oscar®-winner Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) save the world from a total intergalactic disaster in director Barry Sonnenfeld’s (RV) Men in Black, on high-definition Blu-ray Disc™ June 17, 2008 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for the SRP of $28.95. This advanced BD-Live enabled title boasts interactive bonus features including a multiplayer trivia game, an interactive Frank the Pug advice generator and much more.
Timed with “Hancock” theatrical release, starring Will Smith on July 2nd! Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Me) and Agent Jay (Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hancock) are members of a top-secret but unofficial government agency called Division 6. Better known as the “Men in Black,” these agents carry out a very important mission: to monitor and police alien activity on earth. Armed with space-age technology and sharp black suits, these agents must stop a deadly plot by an alien bug-like terrorist (Vincent D’Onofrio, Full Metal Jacket, Law and Order: Criminal Intent), who has arrived on Earth on a mission to start intergalactic war by assassinating two ambassadors from opposing galaxies who are currently in New York. To prevent disaster and the destruction of the Earth, Kay and Jay, with the help of coroner Dr Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino, Dogma), will track down the terrorist before he has the chance to bring his plan into action.
Blu-ray DiscTM Special Features:
Enhanced Telestrator Commentary – Audio commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld featuring technology that allows the director to circle and create arrows on screen
Intergalatic Pursuit: The MIB Multi-Player Trivia Game – Up to eight players can connect via BD-Live to test their Men In Black knowledge in this fast-paced trivia game.
Ask Frank the Pug! Interactive Game – Frank the Pug lays down some knowledge in topics of Career, Health, Money and Romance.
Alien Subtitle Track
Technical Commentary
Extended and Alternate Scenes
Metamorphosis of Men In Black
Original Featurette
Scene Editing Workshop
Visual Effects Scene Deconstructions with Commentary
Character Animation Studies
Storyboard Comparisons
Galleries
Music Video starring Will Smith and Mikey
Original Theatrical and Teaser Trailers
Men in Black was written by Ed Solomon; produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald; directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; and stars Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio and Rip Torn.
The film has a run time of 98 minutes and is rated PG-13. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPublicity.com. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.
Men In Black
BD Catalog Number: 25231
BD UPC Code: 043396252318
BD Order Date: 5/15/08
BD SRP: $28.95
BD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
BD Language(s): English, Portuguese, Thai, Spanish, French 5.1
BD Subtitles: English, Korean, Arabic, Dutch, French, English, Chinese, Spanish, Thai
Will Smith Opens Scientology School
Actor Will Smith, of Fresh Prince and Men in Black fame, has opened a private school in Calabasas, CA for pre-kindergarten through the sixth grade.
What’s with celebrities starting schools? Will Smith is the latest to start his own private school, but he didn’t go halfway across the world for his, like Oprah. Will’s New Village Academy is in Calabasas, CA, and to go there, it’ll cost you $12,000 a year! The school will provide a laptop for every child, and an all-organic, low-fat sugar-free menu. Will says he want to revolutionize the public school system.
The school’s website explains their educational approach, which uses “tech” to stifle independent critical thinking and prepare students for induction into Scientology:
Study Technology - An educational model developed by L.R. Hubbard, study technology focuses on three principles. First is the use of “mass” (manipulatives and hands-on experiences) to foster understanding – children need to see and feel what they are learning about. Second is the attention to the “gradient,” which ensures sure students master one level before moving on to the next. Third is the “misunderstood word,” in which students master word definitions and are taught not to read past words they don’t know the meanings of in order to understand completely what they are reading and learning. NVA uses study technology as an umbrella methodology woven through the subjects.
– From Here
Will Smith is in it for ‘the Long Run’
In another sign that the town is waking up from the slumber brought on by the WGA strike, Columbia has pre-emptively plunked down low-seven figures for “The Long Run,” a spec by scribe Stephen Belber. Will Smith will produce via his Overbrook banner. The script centers on a journalist who helps exonerate a highly charismatic death row inmate of a crime he didn’t commit. When the former inmate is recruited to run for elected office, the journalist leaves his post to orchestrate his rise to political prominence but soon faces a crisis of conscience as he discovers that his friend might be guilty of murder after all.
Via HR
Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss.
Are Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Kimora Lee Simmons the new celebrity faces of Scientology? The case is certainly made in “Scientology Under Siege,” Radar magazine’s April cover story. In the piece, the magazine said, “The Church has also set its sights on African Americans, opening up a center in Harlem in 2003 and making a strong play for Hollywood supercouple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett.”
Via MSNBC