Best Buy Co. Inc. stores on Sun. will begin to offer a discount on Blu-ray disc titles starring Will Smith.

Blu-ray titles include The Pursuit of Happyness and Hitch will be price cut to $19.99, while titles like Enemy of the State, I Am Legend, Independence Day, and I, Robot will be discounted to $24.99.

Independence Day this week ranked as the No. 1-selling Blu-ray disc at Amazon.com following a new ‘Buy Three for the Price of Two’ promotion for select high-definition titles.
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My good friend Peter over at SlashFilm was just sent a new photo from the set of Hancock. That’s old news, right? Nope – it was taken in Times Square yesterday night. How is that possible when the movie comes out in about a month? Apparently Hancock was doing very late reshoots in New York City yesterday, most likely as a result of the ratings troubles they’ve encountered that were detailed in this chat with director Peter Berg. Good news? Bad news? Neither really, but definitely interesting and worth noting. I think my interest in Hancock is definitely starting to increase the more I hear about it.

The photo below, taken yesterday, shows Will Smith in his leather superhero outfit that appears at the end of the most recent trailer. The report sent to Peter says that Times Square was packed with extras wearing 1980’s-style brightly colored clothes. They shot for 12 hours total in order to get the updated footage that they needed. Principal photography actually finished last November and Peter Berg has been working on editing and the visual effects since then.

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I Am Legend didn’t seem like much until that first shot of a deserted Times Square. Loved the movie. Hated the trailer. Hancock looks to be following that same path. When the trailer is shown in theaters people tend to just look at in bored silence. You can hear the popcorn crunching five rows away. I will say this – comments on movie blogs are very enthusiastic. Lots of “can’t wait,” “sweeeeet,” and “kool”-aids. With a July 2, prime-time summer blockbuster position, it’s likely Will Smith will pull off another box office smash.

The first Hancock cast interviews are starting to leak out.

Will Smith talks about his regular guy, shorts and flip-flops, alcoholic superhero.

“Somebody made a good point that there hasn’t been a new superhero in 40 years. Spiderman and Iron Man and Batman, those were our father’s superheros. So it’s very difficult to create a new superhero. Part of the reason why Hancock will be successful is because of that little click of that.. father superhero relationship.”
Source: Whudat

The history of pop icons attempting to make it in Hollywood is a long and often sad one. Many have tried and failed.

The world of rap probably has the best record of producing film stars. Tupac caused a major stir before his untimely death, LL Cool J’s star is rising, as is Queen Latifah’s. And then there’s the biggest of them all – Will Smith.

Formerly known as The Fresh Prince he is surely the most successful crossover star of the modern era.
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The entire world loves Will Smith, but not Dresden Graham, a 65-year-old retiree who is waging a war against Smith’s latest film, the drama “Seven Pounds,” which is shooting in her Hollywood neighborhood.

The production is based just three houses up from Graham’s home, where she has lived in since the mid-’80s. Trucks line the street, crews are busy setting up and striking down, generators hum, and security and police officers patrol the area.

Graham, who has signs in her yard and on her house that read “Will Smith, Go Film at Your Mansions” and “Put Potty Toilets on Your Neighbor’s House,” has a litany of complaints. She doesn’t like the fume-spewing trucks parked running in front of her house, where the production has placed portable toilets. She’s not that keen on the planned night shoot that will go to 3 a.m., either, because it calls for bright lights, rain machines and Great Danes.
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Will Smith, Jada Pinkett and Kimora Lee Simmons are loudly denying Radar magazine’s claims that they’ve been recruited into — dun dun dun! — the Church of Scientology.

Smith, a good buddy of Scientology poster boy Tom Cruise, denies he is a church member. “You don’t have to be Jewish to be a friend of Steven Spielberg. You don’t have to be a Muslim to be a friend of Muhammad Ali. And you don’t have to be a Scientologist to be a friend of Tom Cruise,” Smith tells us. “I am a Christian. I am a student of all religions. And I respect all people and all paths.”
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Jada Pinkett, Will Smith, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes poses at the First Annual Essence Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon, at the Beverly Hills Hotel on February 21, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California.

GALLERY LINK:
» “Essence Black Women In Hollywood” Luncheon [HQ]

With the current push to expose Scientology as the Hitler regime style cult that it is, Scientology is strongly recruiting black people to help their image. Already having built a center in Harlem, Scientology is working to make Will Smith, Jada Pinkett, and Kimora Lee Simmons the new celebrity faces of Scientology. MSNBC (by way of Radar) reports:

He’s been getting more and more involved (in Scientology),” said one source. “And it isn’t just him, it’s definitely Jada, too.”…”It’s not so much that anyone is upset that Will is becoming a Scientologist,” the source added after seeing a copy of the nine-page Radar piece. “It’s that as he becomes more involved, you’d think he’d sort of help fly the flag with Tom (Cruise), who seems to only get a bad rap for it, while Will does this and comes through just fine.”

“As for Kimora Lee Simmons, the Radar piece makes the case for including her among the ranks of celebrity Scientologists. The magazine points to a 2006 gathering where Scientology leader David Miscavige “spoke glowingly of Kimora Lee Simmons’ efforts to distribute a personalized edition of Hubbard’s “The Way to Happiness,” featuring her image on the cover, to school kids in New Jersey.”

It’s unclear how they decided on Will Smith, his lesbian wife, and that transvestite Kimora, but I guess anything would be better than what Scientology is currently working with. A cardboard cutout of Tom Cruise would be a better spokesman than Tom Cruise at this point.
Source: I Don’t Like You in That Way

Singer-actor Will Smith will be hosting former South African president Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday party in London.

Thesun.co.uk reports that the event is being set up by Mandela’s 46664 campaign against AIDS team. The bands to perform at the function include Razorlight, Keane, Queen and singer Annie Lennox. U2, Spice Girls and Sir Paul McCartney have been approached to perform but there is no confirmation.
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Will Smith won an apology and undisclosed damages in a London court on Friday over a false claim that he had described World War Two Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a “good person”.

The Oscar-nominated star, one of the world’s most popular and highly paid actors, was left deeply distressed and acutely embarrassed over the wrong story published by an entertainment newswire service, the High Court heard.

Smith’s comments, originally published in the Scottish Daily Record newspaper, were then “wholly misrepresented” by the London-based World Entertainment News Network (WENN), Judge David Eady was told.
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