There’s no question that Will Smith is one of the biggest stars on the planet. One of his many memorable roles is as Agent J in both Men in Black movies, so when word came around that a Men in Black III was on the way, it was clear that Mr. Smith had to be involved for it to work.
Not so fast, kids.
According to reports, Smith is staring into the eyes of a major choice. One option is to reprise his role as Agent J in MiB III, which brings a huge payday considering the first two films have made over a billion dollars worldwide, or he can star in a movie called The City That Sailed.
This is the easiest decision ever made for fans, who all seem ready and excited for some more fun alien pursuit action, but there are complications involved. Smith has been doing a lot of work lately as a producer through his own Overbrook Films, and it is Overbrook who just so happen to be be behind the development of City That Sailed before 20th Century Fox picked up the property.
So what is The City That Sailed, exactly? Well, for starters, it was written by Andrew Niccol, who wrote the script for Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal and The Truman Show, and also wrote and directed Gattaca, S1m0ne, and Lord of War.
Here’s how the movie is described by the trades:
City that Sailed revolves around a New York street magician who is unhappily separated from his young daughter. The girl, who moves to London, finds magic candles that make her wishes comes true, with unintended consequences: The island of Manhattan separates from the continent and floats toward England, bringing her dad ever closer.
This is obviously a family flick and it sounds like it could be decent within those boundaries, but I don’t see where the choice is. Smith will make a lot more money starring in Men in Black III and it will make his fans a hell of a lot happier than the latter. Plus, he’ll be making money from City That Sailed as a producer, so why not have them cast someone else for it and dance in both worlds?
Neither project has a locked in director at the moment. MiB III has a couple of stars rumored, including Josh Brolin, who would supposedly be playing a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones‘ Agent K, and either Sacha Baron Cohen or Jemaine Clement being looked at for one role. I say cast them all.
At the current time, no word yet exists on where Jones stands in all of this or if he’s coming back at all.
[Source: Variety]
this will be right up there with rush hour 3!
i can’t wait!
yes, this is sarcasm!
Comment by mo — March 25, 2010 @ 11:59 pm