Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith claim they’re not to blame for a movie that made absolutely no money — even though Jada wrote the script.

It’s all over a movie you’ll probably never see called “Human Contract” — which Jada wrote in 2007.

In legal papers filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, the couple claims the guy who financed the movie is threatening to sue them because he believes Will and Jada “guaranteed” a return on an investment to get him on board. Will and Jada claim they “made no such representations.”

Long story short — the movie went straight-to-DVD and Will and Jada admit, “it is unlikely that it will ever make a profit.”

Will and Jada aren’t going after the investor for money — but they want a judge to declare that they are not liable for the investor’s lost cash.

In the meantime, the movie had some serious star-power — Ted Danson, Idris Elba and even Jada herself.

Too bad no one ever saw it.

UPDATE: TMZ spoke to a rep for the couple who told us, “Although we normally shun this type of controversy, we felt compelled to respond to the baseless threats and absurd allegations put forth by Mr. Grasso’s counsel.”
Source: TMZ

THE KARATE KID remake, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, has garnered the second highest test score among research audiences in studio history according to Sony Pictures. The top scorer remains Will Smith’s 2005 comedy HITCH. The results of the research were revealed by the studio to Entertainment Weekly.

While the test viewers were undoubtedly picked to represent Sony’s preferred demographic, it’s rare for a studio to reveal test scores that are in the 97th percentile as this one was. This could mean that Sony has a genuine hit on its hands despite concerns from fans of the original film and possible confusion stemming from the use of THE KARATE KID title in conjunction with use of Chinese wushu in the film.

Coincidently, this news happens to drop on the same weekend that Chan’s family comedy THE SPY NEXT DOOR opens to near universal panning from critics. Rotten Tomato’s Tomatometer currently rates the movie at a low 9%. The film is currently in sixth place on its opening weekend with an estimate of just under $10 million earned according to Box Office Mojo.
Source: Kung Fu Cinema

Hollywood superstar Will Smith will auction a special artwork signed by music artists who performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, to raise funds for poor children.

The ‘Hitch’ star is joined by his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith in raising the money that will go towards providing food to more than 500,000 school children in Haiti.

The artwork will be sold by UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation on eBay.

The art is based on a map of world hunger. It is decorated with personalised silhouettes drawn by Smith, his family and the artists who performed at the concert, according to WFP. (more…)

Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have officially signed on as co-producers of “Fela!,” a musical about Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti that opens Monday (November 23) on Broadway.

The news confirms weeks of speculation that the three would back the show.

A representative for “Fela!” did not specify the amount of the celebrities’ investment, but their endorsement alone gives the musical’s profile a significant boost just a week before its premiere.

“There’s going to be an enormous incentive for people to investigate Fela when they know that Jay-Z and Will Smith are all rabid fans,” Rikki Stein, Kuti’s former co-manager and executor of his estate, recently told Billboard. “It’s a sign that the underground is moving overground.” (more…)

American rap artist and actor Will Smith and his wife, the actress Jada Pinkett Smith, will co-host this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, organizers said Wednesday.

The Dec. 11 show — a day after the award ceremony — will feature performances by Wyclef Jean, Toby Keith, Donna Summer, Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi as well as Amadou & Mariam, a blues and jazz duet from Mali.

“The opportunity to recognize the laureate’s contributions to the world peace movement will be an awe-inspiring experience,” the Smiths said in a joint statement. “We are both humbled and honored to take part in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert this year.” (more…)

Will Smith’s superhero movie Hancock may have divided comic-book fans — some liked it, some not so much — but regardless it made enough cash to warrant the go-ahead on a sequel. And now director Peter Berg is saying that the first film’s stars, namely Smith and Charlize Theron, will be back for part two.

“Everybody’s going to come back for a sequel,” Berg said in response to a question about the two stars, reports MTV’s Splash Page. There’s no word on the status of Jason Bateman’s sad-sack character from the original, however.

Berg will be helming the sequel, which he says will feature the appearance of at least one more of the super-powered, god-like beings portrayed by Smith in the first film.

“We have [someone in mind for the role],” Berg tells the site. “I’m not gonna tell you who, but we have!”
Source: IGN

Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment of the “Bad Boys” franchise, hiring Peter Craig to write the screenplay, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The studio hopes to have a script that would reunite director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. At this point, with the project in the early stages, none has a deal to return.

The first Bad Boys was released in 1995 and grossed $66 million domestically and $141 million worldwide. The 2003 sequel grossed $138 million domestically and $273 million worldwide.
Source: Coming Soon.net

Finally! Some “new” Will pictures! The pictures are of Will and Jaden arriving at a film studio in Beijing for “Karate Kid” filming.

GALLERY LINKS:
• Candids from 2009 – 07-09 – Arriving at a Beijing Film Studio

The superheroic team of Peter Berg, Will Smith, and Columbia have been bantering about a Hancock sequel since last July, so it’s no surprise that it’s gone and become official. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia has hired Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to bring back the boozy immortal. Berg is expected to return as director,
though THR is mute as to whether Charlize Theron or Jason Bateman will be reprising their roles. (Given the way the last film ended, it could really go either way, couldn’t it?)

While the plot is being kept under wraps, Smith already gave a few hints last winter. Smith says that the Hancock universe was “full of unexplored characters” and that we would meet them in a sequel. He certainly was a character with a long history, and a whole “last son of Krypton” thing going (I’m trying not to spoil anything), so I could see a sequel venturing into some kind of Phantom Zone territory. Or maybe they’ll go downright Biblical with his immortal lineage. Who knows! It’s too early to know! (more…)

It seems that Peter Berg, the director of 2008 Will Smith superhero epic, Hancock is now seriously talking sequel.

Are you drooling at the mere thought of this? Do you spend waking nights with fingers crossed just focused towards the mere possibility that we will revisit the vice-stricken amnesiac and ancient God-turned-superhero? (Just go with me on this one.) Well, as Berg tells Sci-Fi Wire (whose name, unlike its channel’s is still mysteriously spelled properly):

Caution: Spoilers ahead. (more…)