BOX OFFICE: Will Smith top of the world again

Will Smith's second highest grossing opening 3 day weekend of all time (the highest being I Am Legend just half a year ago) made $66 million and a stunning $107 million over the July 4th five day weekend, the actor's first return to the tentpole where he had previously enjoyed great success with the Men in Black series and of course Independence Day in 1996. As we thought, the biggest movie star on the planet is now still very much a brand name himself. People weren't necessarily spending their money to see Hancock but an entertaining two hours in the company of one Will Smith. And if anyone doubts Smith's status as a movie star, you should probably bare in mind that this is his 8th consecutive movie in a row to gross over $100 million, a great feat considering both The Pursuit of Happyness and Hitch were tough sells. Hancock, made on a production budget of $150 million, has already surpassed that figure in worldwide takings of $185 million - though I still think it's future as a franchise is not secured. Smith hasn't been as praising of the character or the film itself as he was for I Am Legend during the press rounds and fan reaction has been mixed to say the least. With the critics, the movie is Smith's worst in a very long time and speaking just last week the actor claims to have schedueled a five month period off work while he takes a much earned rest. His next movie is a reunion with director Gabrielle Muccino (Pursuit of Happyness) for the drama Seven Pounds which could also be a tough sell but no-one is doubting it will be a big hit. Where Smith goes from there is anyone's guess... is he content with blockbusters or will be looking for something more? 1 Hancock (2008) $66M $107M 2 WALL·E (2008) $33.4M $128M 3 Wanted (2008) $20.6M $90.8M 4 Get Smart (2008) $11.1M $98.1M 5 Kung Fu Panda (2008) $7.5M $193M 6 The Incredible Hulk (2008) $4.98M $125M 7 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) $3.94M $307M 8 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) $3.6M $6.13M 9 Sex and the City (2008) $2.35M $145M 10 You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) $2M $94.8M Clearly the vast number of Summer blockbusters has hurt both the box office of Wanted and Wall-E. Both movies dropped significantly over a weekend they were expected to prosper but the good news for Pixar is that their latest effort is still a substantial $19 million ahead of Ratatouille. Equally as pleased should be Universal with Wanted as this week it surpassed it's production budget domestically with $90 million. Elsewhere:Get Smart up to $98 million after three weeks from a budget of $80 million. Kung Fu Panda nears $300 million worldwide from a $130 million budget, a huge hit. The Incredible Hulk is struggling to make it's $150 million domestic budget with only $125 million made in the States. And finally:Kim Kittredge: An American Girl - the Abigail Breslin star vehicle probably won't become a successful kids franchise having suffered a disastrous opening of $6 million after five days release despite a near 1,900 theatre release. Next week:Guillermo del Toro's last movie till he sets off on a trek to Middle-Earth for four years with his Hellboy sequel, which has been pretty smartly promoted so far and will be hoping to double it's domestic total of $60 million from 2004. This year's sequel was made for $66 million. Though it does have stiff competition. Brendan Fraser will be testing out if he has "still got it" as a blockbuster icon with the awful looking CGI remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth which I don't think anyone quite knows how well that will perform. The always popular with the brainless crowd, Eddie Murphy is back with Meet Dave. Depressingly, Norbit's final total of $95 million makes this a possible contender for a big opening. And if you get a chance, look out for the limited release of August with Josh Hartnett. The actor has been making some smart career choices of late and though I wasn't ALL that impressed with the trailer, I could relate to many of it's themes and I think you could too. source - coming soon