Will Smith has shared new particulars about “I Am Legend 2,” which he stars in and produces alongside Michael B. Jordan. The upcoming sequel relies on the alternate ending used within the 2007 post-apocalyptic sci-fi film’s DVD launch, moderately than its theatrical model, wherein his character dies, Smith mentioned Saturday evening throughout a public interview in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Smith, who’s one in all quite a few Hollywood A-list star visitors on the third version of the Red Sea Film Festival, additionally mentioned “Bad Boys 4”, the place he and co-star Martin Lawrence will reprise their roles within the earlier sequels of the unique 1995 hit detective film.
“I am having a call tomorrow with Michael B. Jordan about [‘I Am Legend 2’],” Smith advised a small viewers at one of many pageant’s In Conversation occasions. “You have to be a real ‘I Am Legend’ buff to know this, but in the first, theatrical version, my character dies, but on the DVD there was an alternate version of the ending where my character lived. We are going with the mythology of the DVD version. I can’t tell you anything more, but 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 “always been good at math and science… and I loved problems and puzzles, so I started making my own problems,” 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 ability of appearing to perceive, form and affect the human situation.
“Movies are about people trying to figure out how to be here without being miserable – how to be okay with life, how to not just survive but how to thrive into this potential existential tragedy that we have all been dropped into,” he mentioned, including: “How do we find love and joy in all that.”
Asked to identify his key mentors, he mentioned {that a} pivotal second was working with Tommy Lee Jones and Gene Hackman.
“That was the first realization that I could use everything I need around a single project. Those two actors made me realize that I was totally outmatched, and they inspired me to elevate my craft as an actor,” Smith mentioned.
An actor with a prodigious document of hits, he mentioned that he didn’t care whether or not he appeared in a blockbuster or a extra modest mission — so long as it was good and he realized from it: “The thing for me is that I have wanted to make good movies that were blockbuster, or blockbusters that were good. To me, the concept of a blockbuster is your heart — the block that gets busted is your heart, where your heart opens to the experience of the movie. That is what I have always concentrated on; even with something like ‘I Am Legend’ – you can give a real performance at the center of a special effects movie.”
Looking forward, Smith mentioned he needed to develop into a mentor to a brand new era of filmmakers and train his craft.
“The factor I’m actually enthusiastic about now’s the switch of data. I really need to train filmmaking.
“What is exciting about Saudi Arabia is that it is a brand-new film community. There is a style of global storytelling that has travelled the world. I understand about taking local stories and making them global. I have a deep faith in the power of sharing our stories together to help heal wounds. The next stage of my life will be about working in global collaboration about sharing our stories in a way that creates bridges. I don’t feel that politics will create the necessary 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 last couple of years” had honed his view on what he desires to do within the subsequent section of his life: “I have to be clear about who I am and what I am attempting to do in the world, I cannot depend on others applauding me for me to stay focused on my mission.”
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