Well, it looks like their has been a recent Will Smith sighting in New York City’s Time Square. This is because the filmmakers of this summers blockbuster Hancockneeded to re-shoot scenes to tone down the subject matter for the film.
…Peter Berg had mentioned that the film “remained surprisingly sexual, violent and true in spirit to an original script,” which had caused it to receive an R-rating twice from the MPAA.
This film will be released on July 2 and the trailer looks great. I’m not sure whether i really care if it’s rated R or PG-13, but if I had to pick one I’d go with PG-13. Mostly because I know that the film will do better number$ if it is not limited to an R-rated audience.
Plus sometime R-ratings aren’t that necessary. Reportedly, they re-shot a scene that originally had Hancock drinking with a 13 year old kid. The MPAA didn’t like that, for obvious reasons, and that was one of the reasons they gave the film the R-rating. Personally, i don’t need to see an adult drinking with a teenager to get the understanding that this dude has a drinking problem. So I say cut it or re-shoot the scene with someone that’s at least 18 years old, and move on, get the PG-13 rating and make some big bucks.
Rapper/actor Common has been casted in the upcoming Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins(#4 in the series). He will play a fellow freedom fighter and member of John Connor’s inner circle. Terminator 4 is slated to released on May 22, 2009.
Common is definitely trying to stay invincible this summer. He’ll be appearing in the upcoming June release Wanted starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. He’s also set to drop his next CD, Invincible Summer, in June or July.
While I haven’t been terribly impressed by Common’s previous outings on film (American Gangster, Smokin’ Aces, Street Kings–>does this even count?), he has been keeping busy and I’m sure that is giving him an opportunity to improve his acting craft. Hopefully by the time Terminator is released he will be at the top of his acting game.
Ludacris is set to release his sixth album, Theater of the Mind, in September, a project he terms appropriately “theatrical.”
He has been working on the Def Jam Records set while shooting Max Payne, the big screen adaptation of the popular Rockstar video game.
Calling the album a collection of his experiences up to this point, Ludacris told Billboard.com that Theater will be film-worthy. Though he hasn’t yet chosen a first single, he said a track should come out by June or July.
It will be interesting to see how Theater of the Mind comes across to the listener. It can be tough doing concept albums, especially these days. Luda will also be in theaters October 31 with Guy Ritchie’sRocknRolla, which stars Thandie Newton and Jeremy Piven.
The year 2008 looks to be a big year for hip hop in film. There are a number of films slated to come out and a slew of rappers with a lot of acting work. So we at filming hip hop have compiled a short list of our most anticipated films for 2008. The list includes films with either hip hop themes or hip hop actors/actresses with major roles in the film. Check out the list and tell us what you think.
Will Smith has come a long way from his early acting days on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Don’t get me wrong, Fresh Prince was the dude that every cat in high school in the late 1980s wanted to be like, but let’s not forget, you can actually catch will mouthing the lines of his co-stars while anticipating his next line. But after the first season he definitely stepped up his acting.
Now in 2007, I Am Legend, Will continues to prove that not only is he a lock for a big box office hit, but you can count on seeing a great performance in a film that’s well worth your hard-earned dollars.
Legend is another one of those films on Smith’s resume that wil go down as an acting triumph in a good film (Ali,Pursuit of Happyness, to name others).
Variety is reporting that, director John Singleton is gearing up to direct a bigscreen version of 1980s TV series The A-Team and talking about the casting possibilities all over town.
Ice Cube, who starred in Singleton’s 1991 debut, Boyz N the Hood, has been rumored as a potential B.A. Baracas (played by Mr. T in the NBC series), but Twentieth Century Fox denied that possibility.
Fox is in early talks with Singleton to bring back the A gang, but the studio said no deal is in place, and the project is not envisioned as a pre-SAG/DGA strike affair.
If Cube gets this part, they may reallly solidify the fact that he and Ice T are the same person… Mr. Ice T Cube.
Will Smith is the biggest star in Hollywood. Period.
Once again Will was able to pull off a huge opening weekend with the release of Warner Bros. sci-fi flick I Am Legend, which brought in $76 .5 million over 3 days.
That made I Am Legend the film with the all time highest grossing opening weekend in December, beating out The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Will also bested his own opening day gross with Friday’s box office results.
Big ups to Will and the whole Smith family of actors/actresses (his daughter Willow also stars in Legend).
Will Smith’s new summer (hit) film is Hancock, scheduled to be released July 2, 2008. The film, which went by the previous names Tonight, He Comes and John Hancock, has a brand new teaser trailer out. In Hancock, Will Smith plays a superhero named Hancock who’s fallen on hard times, and when he hires a PR exec (Jason Bateman) to correct his image, Hancock winds up falling for the his wife (Charlize Theron). Should be interesting flick and another smash for Will, following his string of big successes, including I Am Legend. The effects already look great and they still have a few more months to tighten everything up. What do you think about the trailer and the film’s concept?
Allhiphop is reporting that Kanye West and legendary stuntman Craig “Evel” Knievel have amicably resolved and dismissed a lawsuit over West’s hit video “Touch The Sky.” Knievel took offense to the “Touch The Sky” video, which featured West as a fictional stuntman named “Evel Kanyevel” and sued the rapper in December of 2006. The single was featured on West’s Grammy Award winning 2005 album Late Registration.
The two entered into mediation in July of 2007 and recently met at Knievel’s home in Tampa, Florida, where they put the lawsuit to rest.
I found it pretty interesting that Knievel would sue for this in the first place. The video likely opened Evel up to a whole new, younger audience, especially since nobody probably mentioned his name in the previous 25 years. But oh well, people will find anything to sue about these days.
Incase you haven’t seen it, the “Touch the Sky” video, featuring Lupe Fiasco and co-starring Pamela Anderson, Nia Long and Tracee Ellis Ross, is following the break.
The ongoing writers strike in Hollywood has affected the career of rapper Xzibit, as the production of Oliver Stone’s movie Pinkville has been postponed.
Bruce Willis, Woody Harrelson and Channing Tatum were attached to Pinkville, which was written by Mikko Alanne.
The movie, which was set to be distributed by United Artists, is a war drama that tells the story of the 1968 My Lai Massacre in Vietnam carried out by U.S. soldiers. Xzibit was cast as a soldier who felt he carried out his role as a soldier in a moral way.
As of press time, the movie has been postponed indefinitely.
