In the grand scheme of things, there are heroes and superheroes. And then there are super-superheroes.

“The last ‘Superman’ I got offered,” Will Smith revealed recently, reminiscing about the time he passed up the “Superman Returns” role that eventually went to Brandon Routh, “the script came, and I was like, ‘There is no way I’m playing Superman!’ Because I had already done Jim West [of 'Wild Wild West'], and you can’t be messing up white people’s heroes in Hollywood!”

Laughing, the king of the 4th of July weekend added, “You mess up white people’s heroes in Hollywood, you’ll never work in this town again!”

The biggest star on the planet is sucking his thumb.

“Damn,” Will Smith says on the set of Hancock, trying to shake the pain of a thumbnail that split in two as he was thrown through a mock wall. “All these crazy stunts we’re doing, and this is how I get hurt. I didn’t see that coming.”

Which is strange for Smith, who is nothing if not calculating.

For all the on-screen charisma that has made him a Hollywood ATM, Smith is, at his core, a statistician with social skills. He breaks down the films he’s considering into sub-categories — are there enough special effects, a love story? — to calculate their commercial or Oscar viability. Most Mondays, he pores over box office reports the way sports nuts read box scores, even when he doesn’t have a movie in theaters.

That knack for cinematic algebra makes studios the kind of money once reserved for white men named Tom. (more…)

Will Smith has played Muhammad Ali, a man in black keeping the world safe from alien invaders, the last person on Earth and, in his new movie “Hancock,” a boozy superhero with image problems.

But is the king of the Fourth of July opening ready for the biggest role of his career: Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama? In a word, yes.

“It’s right here,” Smith said, holding up his legendarily prominent ears, which are not unlike Obama’s lobes. “That’s the key. That’s the key. America loves ears, you know? Mickey Mouse started it; Goofy and Dumbo followed behind. And America just loves the ears.” (more…)

So you saw the photos here. Now we’ve got the videos for you to view of Will’s appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman”. Will’s all over the place right now. He was also on TRL today and I should have that video for you to download later!

Box office champ Will Smith has become as synonymous with the Fourth of July as fireworks and backyard barbecues — but the star says he takes nothing for granted as he opens yet another summer holiday blockbuster with his new action film, “Hancock.”

“I feel like I have a relationship with the audience,” Smith told Matt Lauer on the TODAY set, winding his way through a cheering throng of fans. “They agree they are going to go in droves, and I agree that every time they go, it’s going to be better than the last time.”