Where is the Man?
Where did Big Willie disappear to? More importantly, why?
The 21st of December, 2008. Sounds a long time ago, right? That was day Seven Pounds released in the US . Almost one and a half years have passed and there is no concrete news of a Will Smith movie being shot. Which means, there won’t be a Will movie in 2010. That makes it over two calendar years without a Big Will movie. Something that hasn’t happened since our man acted in Bad Boys in 1995.
What is happening? Is the hot streak over? Has Smith joined the League of Was-Once Superstars Who Can’t Open a Movie Now? Has the magic gone? Is the Will Smith era well and truly behind us? The movielessness seems to show that.
Does it have its basis in any fact? Well, it has a basis in the general trend of the movie business. With megastar-starrers not starring well at the turnstiles, with downward-spiraling DVD sales pushing down profit margins, with studios trusting non-original content far more than anything.
Just like the studio system collapsed decades ago, the star system also collapsed recently. The signs were there for years, but with the recession the producers finally gathered courage to say it out aloud. Big names are still big names, but their box office clouts have drastically diminished. Stars no longer open a movie like they do. It’s applicable to all big movie stars. So, it should be applicable to Will Smith also.
Er, hold on to that. Three years ago, Newsweek, in a highly talked-about article (http://www.newsweek.com/id/35744), declare that Will Smith was Hollywood ’s most Powerful Actor. The word "Powerful’ was wisely used. They basically declared that only one man could guarantee an opening weekend and that was Smith. Three years have passed since that article. And three Will Smith movies came in – I am Legend, Hancock and Seven Pounds. Of this Seven Pounds was probably the only one that came after the recession (depending on when you think recession happened.). And Seven Pounds is the argument against Will.
Seven Pounds was a disappointment to Will-watchers. Note, I didn’t say Will-fans. Will-watchers. The guys following Will Smith’s career over the years. The guys who were waiting to see when the 100-million-dollar-man would fall. After eight consecutive movies that grossed over a 100 million dollars in the US domestic market, Seven Pounds bombed. And then the Kill Will daggers were out. Just like that. The fun part is, Seven Pounds didn’t bomb. Oh, no, not by a long shot. Unlike the other Will Smith blockbusters, Seven Pounds was made on a budget that was just a third of his usual movies. And it still grossed, in its worldwide run, three times its budget. What sort of a flop is that?
I haven’t seen Seven Pounds. But I have read about it, and nowhere does it even hint that it is going to be a blockbuster. It’s not even a happy scenario. But I have seen the Pursuit of Happyness and that was when I doffed my hat to the Will Smith effect. I fell asleep for a bit while watching Happyness. And I do not fall asleep watching movies on the big screen. Happyness may have been one of those rags-to-riches tales that make us feel good to be a part of the human race. But it was not a Disney movie. The pace was so slow that I am sure I was not the only one who dozed off. It was also a story about a minority (Black, not poor!). But made for the same budget as Seven Pounds, it grossed over six times that around the world. And there was only one explanation to it: Smith willed it there. Because he could. Period.
All of a sudden, Smith was the only man with the Midas Touch left in Hollywood . Comedy, Sci-fi, Animation, Romance, even Drama; he could take anything and cross the 100-million mark with ease. He did it again with the impressively special-effected (at least, until the zombies came) and with the critically-murdered Hancock. He was a man who could do know wrong in the box office. Then Seven Pounds came along. From the time it was released, the Net was rife with rumours that Will would hold back from his risk-taking movies (like the proposed Speilberg-film The Trial of Chicago 7) and fast-track Hancock 2 or Legend 2.
Unfortunately Will Smith did nothing to rectify the situation. He just chose to take a break. A long break. His IMDb page shows 28 projects in development. Including sequels to Independence Day, Men in Black, Bad Boys, Hancock, I, Robot and I am Legend. Has Will Smith fallen? "Aw, hell no!" Not on the basis of a movie that was still a decent hit. Not by a long shot. Which is why I hope to see a Will Smith movie in July 2011. One which is not a sequel. And one that is going to hit the ticket sales out of the park. Without any help from 3D/IMAX rates. Then all the naysayers will start talking about it being a fluke!
Bottom line is: There is one influential movie star still working in Hollywood and his name is not George Clooney, Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. It was the case before the Newsweek report. It was the case for a few years after that. It still is the case, we just don’t have a proof in our hands.
