A couple of stories started bouncing about today. The first came from an MTV interview with Martin Lawrence, and concerned a movie that might be happening, Bad Boys 3. Martin Lawrence has been shilling the idea of another Bad Boys film for a long time now, and it is easy to see why. Whilst co-star Will Smith and director Michael Bay have gone on to much bigger and better things, Lawrence has struggled to find another winning formula. With shoddy comedies like Big Momma’s House and Wild Hogs on his CV, he is desperate for a big hit to re-establish his name. The project sounds like it is starting to become a ‘real’ possibility, but not yet ‘really real’. You can find the interview here.
The other story, courtesy of Roger Friedman’s Showbiz 411, concerned another threequel which sounds like it really is going to go ahead. The first two Men in Black movies made a lot of money, and a genuine star of Smith. Family comedies with a compelling concept behind them, the Men in Black pictures combined sci-fi, humour with reasonably entertaining storylines, and the first at least will long be remembered as a fun movie. According to Barry Sonnenfeld, Will Smith is apparently signed up for Men in Black 3, which will be in 3D no less. Tommy Lee Jones is also apparently in, though not officially signed, and it hasn’t been fully confirmed if Tommy will be buddying up with Smith again, or if they will be trying something different. You can find the original story here.
Two threequels, two attempts to cash in on a fondly remembered property, and the common link is superstar Will Smith. I don’t generally have a problem with sequels, possibly stemming from a childhood where i was desperate to see follow-ups to my favourite films. My problem is with Will Smith’s involvement. Don’t get me wrong, i don’t dislike Smith, i think he is a good worker with great on-screen presence and charisma. My problem with Smith’s involvement is that he doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t need to do either of these projects. From my reckoning, Will Smith is the last remaining star capable of guaranteeing a film box office success. So why waste this power on throwaway sequels and tired rehashes?
There have been numerous stories over the last year or so concerning Smith, and various ideas and concepts that have failed to make it in to pre-production. Some of these ideas have been really interesting, and involved big directors like Steven Spielberg. Why so many have collapsed is difficult to say, but the result has been Smith’s continued absence from the big screen. I mean seriously, he hasn’t had a movie in theatres for a year and a half! Possibly it is a case of timing, as that gap coincides with the global recession. It may be that studios were unwilling to take the risk on the various projects he has been involved with. If this is the case, it is just unfortunate, and i hope he hasn’t agreed to Men in Black 3 merely because he has given up on getting an original idea off the ground.
If, in the current financial climate, anyone has the ability and clout to get an original idea developed into a movie, it is someone with the reputation and box office record of Big Willie. This presents him with an awesome responsibility, he really should be using this to help some great new projects through instead of going back to the well. Smith has made a career out of mixing huge, blockbuster sci-fi movies with smaller, personal dramas. This kind of ‘one for the studio, one for me’ approach has served him well, and he is clearly pretty shrewd.
I may be being unfair. It could very well be that in the interim between his last movie and now, he has felt his influence beginning to wane. It could well be that he feels frustrated by his difficulties getting original projects off the ground, and that by building his profile back up with a couple of pictures that are guaranteed of success, he will once again be allowed the leeway to get a major personal project on the slate. If so, then i guess there are worse choices than a 3D Men in Black. Bad Boys 3 being a case in point.
Whatever the reason for the revival of these projects, i wish Will Smith luck in whatever he chooses to do. I’m not a huge Smith fan, but he is good at what he does, and he works hard at improving his range. Two years is too long for such a huge star to be away from the big screen, so whatever he IS going to do, i hope it’s set in motion quickly.
Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann
