Jay-Z x Fela. Jay-Z, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith present the Broadway musical “Fela!”. The trio are signed as producers for the show which is about Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician. According to the New York Times, there are no widely known stars in the cast, which makes the involvement of Jay-Z and the Smiths even more of a boon for marketing purposes.

No estimates on how much the stars invested in the project but last summer the show made its world premiere off-Broadway to sold out crowds so most likely Jay-Z and the Smiths will see a large return in investment.

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Will Smith x Men in Black 3. Rumors about Mr. Smith’s invovlement in the upcoming Men In Black 3 have been swirling around for some time now. Word is there was no commitment for him to reprise his role as Agent Jay until a solid writer was brought on board to write the script.

 Sony has now confirmed the writer of Tropic Thunder is on the project now and Sony will be moving forward with bringing MIB3 to the big screen. We can’t imagine Sony would move without Will Smith’s involvement though so look for some news soon.

UPDATE: It just gets worse. Now we have the first look at the official title and logo for the film. This original art says Karate Kid which was going to be the name before all the 80’s fans had a fit and made Sony change it to Kung-Fu Kid. It still sucks though. Pics are now after the jump…
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We were morally against this “modern day” Karate Kid from day one. How could they replace Ralph Macchio with Will Smith’s little kid and Pat Morita with Jackie Chan? A disgrace to one of the all-time classic films. But in case you are into sucky remake films here are a couple of first look pics from the set showing Chan training Jaden Smith. Will should be ashamed for letting his son do this. Via: SlashFilm

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Another Bad Boys movie is in the works according to The Hollywood Reporter. While Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and director Michael Bay all took part in the first two films, Bad Boys 3 actually might proceed without Will Smith. While Sony has already hired a screenwriter to pen the next film, both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are not a guarantee to continue the Bad Boys franchise. Although the first film grossed $66 million in the U.S. and the second one with $138 million in the U.S., Sony might not be able to afford Will Smith’s growing salary which gets as high as $20 million a picture. On the other hand, Sony and Will Smith go hand-in-hand as the studio also has optioned sequels for other Will Smith hits such as Hancock and I am Legend.

The real question is…are any of you really interested in seeing another Bad Boys movie? And by “seeing” I mean actually paying to go see it in the theaters. Let me know what you think.

Will Smith x Men in Black. After the rousing success of Fast & Furious this past weekend (over $70 million at the box office this weekend) you can expect a flury of sequels to be greenlit by Hollywood studios in the coming months. And soon enough, there are talks at Sony Pictures that a Men In Black 3 is already in development with the original producers.

These talks were confirmed when Sony Pictures’ President confirmed they were reigniting the franchise and targeting a 2011 release date. That’s all good for Will but let’s just hope this doesn’t mean a Hancock sequel as well…or even worse…a Seven Pounds sequel.

Wale watch out. D.C. is about to be taken over by zombie-like infected humans in the prequel to Will Smith’s blockbuster hit I Am Legend. Although rumors had it that the next movie in the franchise would be a sequel, Will himself stated at the press junket for Seven Pounds that the movie is indeed a prequel.

“We’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story,” said Smith. “It’s essentially the fall of the last city – the last stand of Manhattan. The movie would be… within the body of the movie D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city. It’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out… there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York.”

Will plans to reprise his role as Dr. Robert Neville while the original director is currently on board as well. Movie will go into more detail as to how the once cancer-curing medicine turned into a human crippling virus and goes deeper into the victims actual transformations from human state to zombie state. Movie is scheduled for a 2011 release date. (Source)

This is proof that even a bad movie can get a sequel. While I am generally a supporter of Will Smith’s movies, Hancock had to be one of the biggest disappointments…and I’m not the only one who thought so. But the bottom line is the movie made money. A lot of it. To the tune of over half a BILLION dollars world-wide. $624 million to be exact. And it was still the #4 biggest box office movie of 2008. Put it all together and it’s no wonder Will wants a sequel. He recently told website Joe Blo:

He (Will Smith) told us that we’ll “definitely” be seeing a sequel. When we asked Will if he’d ever be up for playing another superhero he replied that there were a lot of unexplored characters in the HANCOCK universe that would be ripe for a sequel and confirmed that we’ll definitely see the rumored HANCOCK 2 in a few years.

Would any of you be interested in seeing this though? I can dig an I Am Legend sequel/prequel but this is pushing it.

According to The Variety, Will Smith and Steven Spielberg are both in talks to remake the Korean hit movie Old Boy and bring it to the U.S. Similar to The Departed, which had a strong following in China and Hong Kong, Old Boy is considered a Korean classic made famous for its intense graphic visuals and twisted plot lines.

Movie is about a man who is kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge. And take revenge he does. If all goes according to plan Will Smith would play the kidnapped man and Spielberg would produce.

If Smith gets the role he will have a lot to live up to. Check out this fight scene from the original movie where he fights and takes out 20+ guys on his own.

Yea I know 50 said himself he took the elements of I Am Legend and applied them to his new video for “Get Up.” Well now the video is finally out. One noticeable difference though, Will Smith kidnapped and experimented on a monsterish-albino-freaky-girl-monster in the movie while 50 Cent gets to experiment with a hot video girl. Score one for 50. I suggest in the upcoming prequel to I Am Legend that Will makes sure he gets with a hot chick to even the score.

Sony has just released the first official movie poster to Cadillac Records which stars Beyonce and Mos Def. You can check out the official pics and the trailer here. And at the same time we have a look at the new movie poster to Will Smith’s upcoming drama Seven Pounds. You can also check out the trailer here.

A bunch of A-List celebs including Will Smith, Snoop Dogg and even Will.I.Am have taken part in this second version of the “Don’t Vote” ad campaign…which is using sarcasm to send the message TO vote. Check it out here.

The first movie trailer to Will Smith’s next movie Seven Pounds was released late last month. Here is a brand new version just released by Sony.

Here is the movie trailer to Will Smith’s next movie Seven Pounds. Will Smith plays a suicidal man who is just about to commit suicide when he meets a woman and instantly falls in love. Smith reunites with Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino. Movie comes out on December 19, 2008.

WoooHa, Inc. has been speculating that a prequel to the blockbuster Will Smith hit I Am Legend was being discussed since July and now it’s official. According to the Variety, Warner Bros has officially greenlit a prequel and Will Smith has signed on to reprise his role as Robert Neville. Even the director from the first movie is back as well.

As we predicted, the prequel will follow Neville in the last days before and after the man-made virus kills and mutates New York City. It will add depth and storyline to the series of flashbacks from the first film including how the virus mutated from cancer curing to death causing. A sequel was considered, but due to the flashback elements of the first film, a prequel was a natural fit.

I don’t know if the extra content really warrants the release of this Ultimate Collector’s Edition but at least the packaging looks top notch. This additional content consists of animated comics, 12 never before seen deleted scenes with filmmaker commentary, and more than two hours of all new extras revealing Will Smith‚Äôs off-camera antics.

The collection also includes an exclusive 44-page concept sketch book, a lenticular lucite commemorative piece featuring imagery from the film, and six collectible art cards showing international cities devastated by the virus. This is definitely for the hardcore fan and wil be priced at $49 for the DVD set and $59 for the Blu-ray available for the holiday season on December 9th.