Will Smith is in talks with Michael B. Jordan to make a sequel to “I Am Legend” – based mostly on the alternate ending used within the 2007 post-apocalyptic sci-fi film’s DVD launch, relatively than its theatrical model, by which his character dies, the actor and producer mentioned Saturday night time throughout a public interview in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Smith, who’s one in all plenty of Hollywood An inventory star friends on the third version of the Pink Sea Movie Competition, additionally confirmed that there could be a “Dangerous Boys 4”, the place he and co-star Martin Lawrence will reprise their roles within the earlier sequels of the unique 1995 hit hip detective film.
“I’m having a name tomorrow with Michael B. Jordan about [‘I Am Legend’],” Smith advised a small viewers at one of many pageant’s In Dialog occasions. “It’s important to be an actual ‘I Am Legend’ buff to know this, however within the first, theatrical model, my character dies, however on the DVD there was an alternate model of the ending the place my character lived. We’re going with the mythology of the DVD model. I can’t let you know something extra, however Michael B. Jordan is in.”
Smith bought in an early self-deprecating reference to the 2022 Oscar’s ceremony scandal the place he slapped on-stage presenter Chris Rock after the comic and actor made a poorly-judged quip about Smith spouse Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head (the results of a hair-loss situation she was struggling) — saying since his childhood he had “all the time been good at math and science… and I liked issues and puzzles, so I began making my very own issues,” earlier than shifting onto an entertaining evaluation of his profession.
His past love was rap, he advised an viewers dominated by long-time followers. Later, he realized the facility of appearing to know, form and affect the human situation.
“Motion pictures are about folks attempting to determine the way to be right here with out being depressing – the way to be okay with life, the way to not simply survive however the way to thrive into this potential existential tragedy that we’ve got all been dropped into,” he mentioned, including: “How do we discover love and pleasure in all that.”
Requested to call his key mentors, he mentioned {that a} pivotal second was working with Tommy Lee Jones and Gene Hackman.
“That was the primary realization that I might use the whole lot I want round a single challenge. These two actors made me understand that I used to be completely outmatched, they usually impressed me to raise my craft as an actor,” Smith mentioned.
An actor with a prodigious report of hits, he mentioned that he didn’t care whether or not he appeared in a blockbuster or a extra modest challenge — so long as it was good and he realized from it: “The factor for me is that I’ve needed to make good motion pictures that have been blockbuster, or blockbusters that have been good. To me, the idea of a blockbuster is your coronary heart — the block that will get busted is your coronary heart, the place your coronary heart opens to the expertise of the film. That’s what I’ve all the time targeting; even with one thing like ‘I Am Legend’ – you may give an actual efficiency on the heart of a particular results film.”
Wanting forward, Smith mentioned he needed to grow to be a mentor to a brand new technology of filmmakers and train his craft.
“The factor I’m actually enthusiastic about now’s the switch of information. I actually wish to train filmmaking.
“What’s thrilling about Saudi Arabia is that it’s a brand-new movie neighborhood. There’s a fashion of worldwide storytelling that has travelled the world. I perceive about taking native tales and making them world. I’ve a deep religion within the energy of sharing our tales collectively to assist heal wounds. The following stage of my life can be about working in world collaboration about sharing our tales in a method that creates bridges. I don’t really feel that politics will create the required change.”
Concluding the hour-long dialog — throughout which he handled the viewers to impersonations of Muhammad Ali, Richard Williams (the daddy of tennis gamers Serena and Venus Williams, whom he portrayed within the 2021 movie “King Richard”) — Smith added his “adversities of the final couple of years” had honed his view on what he desires to do within the subsequent section of his life: “I’ve to be clear about who I’m and what I’m making an attempt to do on this planet, I can’t rely upon others applauding me for me to remain centered on my mission.”
