“Tom Cruise And Reese Witherspoon To Be In A Movie Together” should be a strong enough headline to propel any production and get some attention from the mass audience. After all, the two actors are some of the biggest stars of the last 20 years. So when news broke in March that they would be doing a movie together set in the world of rodeo it was big enough news. Apparently someone might not think there is enough star-power there.
Access Hollywood reports that Cruise was recently seen with Will Smith and a host of others at a restaurant where they were holding a table read for the aforementioned rodeo movie, titled Paper Wings. In addition to Smith, the other actors included Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Eric Dane, Tom Arnold, Johnny Galecki and Jenna Elfman. A representative for Smith’s company, which is producing the film, was quick to push down any prospective rumors, however, saying that “any actor’s presence at this table read does not mean that they have officially signed onto this project.”
It’s entirely possible that Smith was only there to oversee the table read as a producer as the report doesn’t say whether or not the actor was going over lines, but don’t you kind of hope that he will be involved? As unpopular as he is at the moment, Cruise still knows how to put on a terrific performance and seeing him act alongside a guy like Smith could remind an audience of that. Considering the actor is a bit busy with over 30 projects in development it’s not something I would put money on, but it would be good to see nonetheless.
“The Karate Kid” beat “The A-Team” in a battle of the remakes.
It looks like Jaden Smith has his fathers magic at the box office.
Sony’s remake of 1984′s “The Karate Kid” debuted at No. 1 for the weekend with a whopping $56 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The big-screen adaptation of the 1980s TV series “The A-Team” came in at less than half that, the 20th Century Fox release opening in second place with $26 million.
With a relatively modest production budget of $40 million, “The Karate Kid” far exceeded the studio’s expectations. Early on, Sony executives would have been happy if the movie opened to half its $56 million debut weekend, said Rory Bruer, the studio’s head of distribution.
Those expectations began to rise once the studio realized it had a crowd-pleaser on its hands, Bruer said.
“It’s just an unmitigated grand slam hit,” said Bruer, who also worked on distribution for the 1984 version. “I loved the original `Karate Kid,’ but they took this beloved title, and they made it relevant, fresh and absolutely exciting.”
Will Smith looks to don a pair of black shades again, but this time of the 3D variety.
Sony announced “Men in Black III” will get the 3D treatment set for release May 25, 2012.
The “Men in Black” franchise has grossed worldwide north of $1 billion collectively.
Production for the third installment is set begin this fall, with Tommy Lee Jones in advanced negotiations to reprise his role as Agent Kay. Josh Brolin also is in talks to star as a young Agent Kay.
Will Smith has been causing problems on the set of HawthoRNe.
Sources have said that The Fresh Prince Will Smith has been getting fresh on the set of Jada Pinkett’s show HawthoRNe.
The cast of the show just returned on set after an inconvenient eight day hiatus. Sources have said the eight day break was due to an illness in the Smith’s Family, while an inside source has said it was instructed by TNT Nework to sort out production complications, that was supposedly caused by Mr. Smith.
Smith, a co-producer of HawthoRNe reportedly hasn’t been collaborating well with the other executives.
“He is not currently shooting a movie, so he’s been a constant on the set in recent weeks,” the network source says. “He’s been inserting his input and requesting so many changes to the script that it pushed back the production schedule tremendously and caused everything to spiral out of control.”
He added, “Everyone is praying for him to book a new movie so that he will go away.”
If the reports according to Variety are true then Smith is reportedly deciding between making the third installment to Men in Black” or a new role in Fox’s fantasy-adventure The City That Sailed.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith hosted a special Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway Friday, December 11. Bringing their children along for the celebration, which included an acceptance speech from Barack Obama, the Smith’s shared the stage with Willow and Jaden. Wyclef Jean, Natasha Bedingfield and Luis Fonsi also took part in the concert.

Will Smith praised “fantastic” Barack Obama for his Nobel Peace Prize – and joked he is going to play him in a film because they both have big ears.
The actor, along with wife Jada Pinkett Smith, are long-time supporters of the US president and flew to Oslo to witness him picking up the honour.
He said he could not miss the ceremony. “It’s a fantastic historical event,” Smith said.
“Barack Obama as a person is a fantastic individual but ‘Barack Obama’ as an idea marks an evolutionary flashpoint for humanity.
“So it’s something we absolutely positively had to be a part of.”
And he joked about Obama’s comments that he loves the idea of Smith playing him in a film.
“Now that I can do,” he said. “I’ve got the ears – that’s what it is. Americans historically have been attracted to the ear. You know – Abraham Lincoln, Goofy, Mickey Mouse!”
He added that small ears don’t have the same appeal. “The chicks don’t dig that,” he said, laughing.
It looks like Will Smith is bringing “super” back — to the big screen.
Smith will reprise his role as the drunken-turned-revived superhero John Hancock in “Hancock 2,” it has been announced.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, the sequel is expected to dive deeper into the world of the immortal superheroes, played by Smith and Charlize Theron in the first movie.
According to The Hollywood reporter, “The Shield” writers Adam Fierro and Glen Marzara will pen the script, marking the feature film writing debut for both.
“Hancock” helper Peter Berg will once again take on directing duties.
In addition, both Smith and Berg will oversee the new script.
Before Jada Pinkett Smith took the role of producer and star of TNT’s “HawthoRNe,” she made sure her family was fine with her being away from her mother and wife duties during filming.
Pinkett Smith plays a single mom and a hospital’s chief nurse on the medical show, which debuts Tuesday night on cable’s TNT Network, which is owned by the parent company of CNN.
“I sat down with kids and my husband and I really asked their permission,” she said. “I said ‘Listen, there was this show I’d love to do and it will be three months that you might not see Mommy a lot.’ And they’re looking at me like ‘Really? What does that mean?’”
It meant that on weekdays Will would get Willow, 8, and Jaden, 11, out of bed each morning, tuck them in at night and take care of them in-between.
“So they get to eat chocolate for breakfast and go to bed whenever they feel like it for those three months while I’m working,” Pinkett Smith said. “So, it works out, and they know that the rest of the year, I’m off.”
Total egomaniac, says Janet Hubert, 53, who played Aunt Viv on the Fresh Prince’s breakout show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Hubert lashes out at Smith in her memoir, Perfection Is Not a Sitcom Mom, which is slated for a 2010 release. In excerpts released to various blogs and media outlets, Hubert accuses Smith of sabotaging her work on the show. (She was fired in ’93 and replaced with Daphne Maxwell Reid.)
“Smith had people around him who made sure no one outshone him,” Hubert writes in an excerpt released to BlackVoices.com’s Ent blog, BVbuzz.com.
So far, there’s been no comment from Smith.
Sci Fi Channel is teaming with Will Smith’s production company for a new crime drama.
The network has ordered “Unfinished Business,” a series about an ex-cop who starts seeing flashes of memories from the recently deceased. The visions compel him to help wronged souls resolve their unfinished business.
The network, which changed its name to Syfy today, plans to air “Unfinished Business” as a two-hour movie that will also serve as a potential series pilot.
“Unfinished Business” is being produced through Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, with the actor on board as one of the executive producers.