Will Smith: Is
he back? Or has his time out of the spotlight permanently faded his star?
It's a question that seems to be on
many a mind after the disappointing opening of Smith's return to the big screen
that is Men In Black 3.
Following a three year absence from appearing in films, Big Willie's
triumphant return comes in the form of a lukewarm sequel, 10 years after the
previous installment. MIB3's
$54.6 million debut, while besting the rest of the franchise's opening numbers,
was a disappointment.
With a budget of
$230 million, the third installment of the Men In Black movies relied
heavily on the allure of Smith and nostalgia to bring in buku bucks. And MIB3 will not be the only
film to take this approach: Hancock 2, Bad Boys 3, I Am Legend 2, and I, Robot
2 are all in the works. At some
point Smith and the studios will have to notice the decline in interest that
audiences have in these retreads, reboots, and repeats. So is Will Smith fading? Or is it
simply an arrogant belief that people want sequels to mediocre films? My
suggestion to Smith: instead of focusing on little-loved franchises, continue
molding your children into the next generation of superstars. The audience will
probably never grow tired of that.
