the pursuit of happyness Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You really expect a movie headlined by Will Smith -- the consensus Biggest Movie Star in the World -- to at least break $20 million in its opening weekend. You'd have to go back to 2001's Ali to find one that didn't. Instead, Seven Pounds -- poorly reviewed and marketed to emphasize the central mystery in a way that turned out mystifying -- played second fiddle to Jim Carrey's Yes Man, pulling in $16 million to Yes Man's $18.1 million.

The Seven Pounds result is actually not terribly surprising, even given the Will Smith factor -- the movie is a morose downer, with none of the uplifting, holiday-appropriate draw of 2006's affable The Pursuit of Happyness (another Smith-Gabriele Muccino collaboration), and the people looking for that sort of thing have a lot to choose from this time of year, most of it carrying more cred. I'm a bit more taken aback by Yes Man's relatively weak opening. For a high-concept Jim Carrey comedy, opening a good three weeks after the last big light-hearted offering, $18 million is uninspiring. It's in the same ballpark as Fun with Dick and Jane, opening around the same time three years ago, but that one went up against three other comedies opening the same weekend, and was harder to market. I wonder if Jim Carrey's draw might be waning a bit.

Earlier this month, China imposed a three-month ban on American films. It was said that this decision was influenced by "disagreements with U.S. trade policy and the recent success of American pics at the expense of local films." Foreign influence has been a foremost concern for the country's film industry, and previously, foreign fare had to slip into one of the country's 20-film limit for revenue-sharing. Another 20 could break in at a flat fee, but that's it. With this new ban, foreign fare has been completely blocked -- for the next few months -- which for the most part, means Hollywood fare like the recent Bee Movie and Beowulf. The decision had also blocked The Pursuit of Happyness, which had already cleared Chinese censors and was set for a December release. But now, just a few weeks later, the blackout is being broken.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Happyness will get its shot with a January release. Titled "Happiness Knocks at the Door" there, since that "y" spelling doesn't really translate internationally, the film will hit 350-380 Chinese screens on January 17, 2008. There was no further comment on why this film got an exception, but maybe it was due to the fact that it had already gone through the censor process. Now the Chinese theater owners are anxious to see the blackout broken again, and hope that other imports will soon become allowed. Whether more films will follow remains to be seen. But Merry Christmas Will Smith, your Legend can continue into China with a little Happyness!

I guess it's more than 20 years old -- so, The Karate Kid can be remade fair and square. All of us who have fond memories of Mr. Miyagi and fond hatred of William Zabka can just forget it. Honestly, I don't know why anybody is even writing about that old movie anymore. It's dated, it's cheesy, it's done. Move on. To the redo, that is. According to IGN, Sony is set to revamp it's "classic" with help from Will Smith, who will produce through his company, Overbook Entertainment. Jerry Weintraub, who produced the original, is also reportedly on board for this one. As for the star? That will be little Jaden Smith, Will's 9-year-old son and co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness. I guess this time Daniel will really be needing his mom to drive him on that date.

Okay, so I am somewhat joking above with all the fairness talk and implications that The Karate Kid is overrated. But I still anticipate a lot of protest, so I figured I'd kick off with a bit of the Devil's Advocate. Seriously, though, I do think there's no problem with this idea. Keep in mind they already pretty much did this once. It was called The Next Karate Kid. Oh, but it had Mr. Miyagi in it, you may whine, and he can't return for another installment, because he's no longer with us. Well, there are some who think the real Miyagi wasn't even in The Next Karate Kid, so there's that. So, here's how it goes in my mind: Jaden is not Daniel, there's nobody named Johnny (well, maybe Zabka could have a kid and he could be Johnny, Jr.) and Miyagi is replaced by a relative -- did he have a nephew in KKII? I don't remember. Who cares, let's make one up. Since this thing is currently out to writers, I hope they read this and take my idea. It's an obvious enough one that I won't sue. I swear.

Say what you want about The Pursuit of Happyness, but it wasn't a bad movie. Gabriele Muccino's direction was pedestrian at best, yet the movie worked because of Will Smith's Oscar-nominated performance. And little Jaden Smith (real-life son of Will) is possibly the most adorable child actor in years. The movie wasn't quite as good as its promise of being Frank Capra's Kramer vs. Kramer, but it was entertaining -- and for a serious drama it really killed at the box office. Smith may be hoping for his third Academy Award nomination in 2009, as well as his billionth hit, because he's re-teaming with Muccino for a new pic titled Seven Pounds. It will star Smith as a man who finds love while attempting suicide, so it will probably be another BYOK (bring your own Kleenex) film. Aside from Muccino, Happyness' producers, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, James Lassiter and Steve Tisch, are also on board (Smith is also a producer). However, the script is from somebody not associated with the previous film; it was written by sitcom writer Grant Nieporte (8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Daughter).

Hopefully they can find a role for Jaden, but if not this should be about as good as Happyness. And like I said, it may be Smith's next chance for Oscar. It seems that lately he's becoming the Spielberg of actors, doing an action blockbuster here and a serious, well-acted drama there. Of course, he does the occasional comedy, too, even though his action pics are funny enough on their own. The pattern is working out well for the guy. His follow-up to last winter's Happyness is the apocalyptic action-horror pic I Am Legend, which arrives this December, and then he's got a super-hero movie called Hancock, which bows next year in Smith's typical 4th of July weekend slot. Hancock, which was originally going to be helmed by Muccino, also deals with a guy who is down on his luck, but for a summertime pic, it couldn't possibly be as heart-wrenching as Seven Pounds will likely be. Right? Seven Pounds is set to begin filming in February and is expected for a late 2008 release.

The same team behind The Pursuit of Happyness is interested in taking another larger-than-life story and sticking Will Smith in the lead role. Columbia Pictures has snagged the rights to Jeff Henderson's memoir Cooked, for Overbrook's James Lassiter to produce alongside Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal of Escape Artists. Smith will most likely star should he approve the script. All four men produced Happyness, which helped Smith nab a best actor Oscar nod.

Cooked is similar to Happyness in that it tells the story of a man whose life drastically turns around after he's offered a second chance. Henderson was a cocaine dealer who was eventually nabbed by cops and thrown in jail for 19 years. However, while imprisoned he discovered a passion for cooking ... ya know, real food. Through a series of trials and tribulations, Henderson (who calls himself Chef Jeff) eventually managed to become the exec chef at Cafe Bellagio in Las Vegas following his release from prison. It's a fantastic role for Smith, who I've been itching to see play someone with more of an edge (like a coke dealer sent to prison), instead of the same old hero time and time again. It's time for a change Will; time to get dirty. What do you think?

Disney will be trying hard this summer to get Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End into Chinese cinemas despite the fact that the last installment of the franchise was banned by the country's censors. Obviously the studio is aware that many of China's movie fans at least got to see Dead Man's Chest via bootleg, and it understandably wants to profit from those fans' desire to see part three. But this isn't just about exploiting the expectant audiences, and it isn't exactly about fighting piracy. All of Hollywood wants to succeed in the Chinese market because it is a growing source of income for the studios.

What this means for the rest of the world may be nothing. Hollywood studios and distribs will likely start censoring for easy approval by China the same way they censor for the rest of the international markets. As I mentioned recently when The Departed failed with Chinese censors, the best way for a film to meet approval is for it to have no mention of China. However, the Chinese aren't only concerned with references to themselves; Dead Man's Chest was banned because it featured cannibals.

The Chinese version of our holiday season is coming up soon, and the titles looking for big box office are Night at the Museum, which has been performing brilliantly all over the world, 16 Blocks and South Korea's Joong Cheon (The Restless). These will be taking up three of the 20 quota slots that China allows to be filled by imported titles, and the last of these fills one slot that Hollywood missed out on. Following this month's big movie-going time, Hollywood will continue trying to fill in the rest of these slots, and so Chinese audiences may or may not get proper releases of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Pursuit of Happyness, Transformers and At World's End.

Did Chris Gardner beat homelessness because of his talent or because of luck? The man whose story inspired the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is now being used as an example for other homeless people, who have been invited to see the movie for free in Washington, D.C., Chattanooga, TN, and possibly other cities throughout the country. Gardner, who is played in the film by Oscar nominee Will Smith, was even quoted as saying that the homeless should know that he didn't do anything that they can't do.

There are a lot of people, however, who disagree with the homeless being assured such false hope. Regardless of whether or not Gardner got lucky, he is also presumably more intelligent, talented and sane than a lot of others out on the streets. In some way, the idea of politicians showing a feel-good movie to the homeless as a sort of how-to guide seems like an easy way out of dealing with an important issue. Will the mayor of Washington now attempt to claim the people no longer have a reason to be homeless? And how many of those inspired by Gardner's story would have the opportunity to go and work at Gardner's firm?

I guess I should give the next panhandler I see on the subway a movie ticket, huh?

It was a slow weekend at the box office, but the competition for B.O. champ was exciting nonetheless. A mere $300,000 separated the No. 1 and No. 2 films, while just half a mil stood between the No. 3 and No. 4 movies. Here is what I predicted the top five flicks would be this weekend ...

1. The Hitcher
2. Stomp the Yard
3. Night at the Museum
4. Dreamgirls
5. The Pursuit of Happyness

And the actual top five were ...

1. Stomp the Yard - $13.3 million
2. A Night at the Museum - $13.0 million
3. Dreamgirls - $8.7 million
4. The Hitcher - $8.2 million
5. The Pursuit of Happyness - $6.7 million

Get the full box office report here.

Although all of my picks were in the top five, my faith in scantily clad, shotgun-weilding heroines in horror flicks proved more lethal than picking up a deranged hitchhiker. 'The Hitcher,' the week's only new wide release and my pick for No. 1, earned just $8.2 million, good enough for a fourth place finish ahead of Will Smith's 'Pursuit of Happyness' ($6.7 million). Meanwhile, last week's box office victor, 'Stomp the Yard,' narrowly defeated Ben Stiller's blockbuster with very long legs, 'Night at the Museum,' which has now grossed a whopping $206 million. Rounding out the top five was 'Dreamgirls,' which saw its box-office take jump from $8.1 million last week to $8.7 million this week, most likely the result of its Best Picture win at last Monday's Golden Globes. Also of note this week was the strong performance of 'Pan's Labyrinth,' the mesmerizing adult fairy tale from Spanish director Guillermo del Toro. The film improved its box office 118% this week, grossing $4.7 million and catapulting it from 18th place last weekend to seventh place this weekend. The reason: It's just that good.

Of those of you who posted box-office picks, two predicted 'Stomp the Yard' would repeat as box-office champ, but no one guessed all five slots correctly. The high score this week goes to Liesse00 with 12 points. Congrats!

Name - This Week/Overall

1. Patricia - 7 points/135 points
2. zsxxx03 - 8/133
3. chrisnbn - 7/129
4. Mario/crzydcguy84 - 7/111
5. Bubba8193 - 7/ 95
6. Liesse00 - 12/85
7. Tangoeco - 7/80
8. Isaac/laraeruiz - 0/66
9. bostons leppard - 7/61
10. Evilone1414 - 7/26
11. MrPKI - 0/6
12. Lazy Bum - 0/9

    POST: What do you think of the box office results?

He's made us laugh, he's made us want to destroy aliens and, with Bad Boys, he's made us briefly forget that Martin Lawrence has starred in a crapload of, well, crap. Recently, Will Smith has added a new one to his acting arsenal, finding yet another way to separate us from our hard-earned money -- by making us cry. Yes, The Pursuit of Happyness -- a film everyone was somewhat iffy on before it came out -- has officially struck box office gold ($138 million and rising) and, if anything, has made it clear that the Smith family will be entertaining us on the big screen for a long time to come.

Today Variety reports Smith, his Overlook banner and Sony have snatched up Sisters of Mercy, a spec script (yes, a spec script!) written by Steve Bloom (Overnight Delivery). While the article doesn't state whether or not Smith will star, we're to assume he will -- the story seems right up his alley, one where he might be able to utilize the acting talents of his entire family. Mercy follows a recently widowed father who looks to the members of his deceased wife's book club to help him rearrange his life, only to watch them slowly take it over with a slew of parenting and dating advice.

I'm curious: In what types of films do you think Will Smith is at his best? Would you rather see him in stuff like The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, Men in Black or Bad Boys?

And then there were three. For the third weekend in a row, and the first of 2007, Night at the Museum took top spot at the box office raking in a hefty $24 million. That's $164.1 million domestic dollars in three weeks! Obviously folks are enjoying the latest Ben Stiller comedy and telling their friends about it, although around these parts the buzz hasn't been too good -- apparently some folks like a little more story with their, well, story.

Once again, Will Smith finished right behind its badly-written nemesis, yet managed to distance itself from first place even more, as The Pursuit of Happyness claimed only $13 million. High praise (and it's appearance on almost every year-end top ten list) helped Children of Men ($10.3 million) sneak past the "important" movie of the weekend, Freedom Writers ($9.7 million and fourth), for a third place finish. Rounding out the top five (and expanding from 852 to 1200 theaters next week), Dreamgirls remained hot, taking in $8.8 million. The final two big debut films made their grand entrance in a very mediocre kind of way -- Happily N'Ever After finished sixth (despite the horrific reviews) with $6.8 million, and nothing could mop up the mess caused by Code Name: The Cleaner; it sloppily stuck itself in eleventh place with $4.6 million.

Full numbers after the jump.