Seven Pounds

Will Smith and the promotional train for Seven Pounds kept on chugging at the London premiere last night before he stopped by a studio today. With such a large group of excited fans and his name in huge lights, it's no wonder Will looked happy as can be on stage. As he continues to flash his grin around the world, his son's rumored Karate Kid remake is getting more buzz now that Jackie Chan has supposedly signed on in Mr. Miyagi's role. There's already been a bit of friendly competition in the Smith household, but it might be a few more years before Jaden is touring the world like his dad.

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Will Smith led Rosario Dawson by the hand down the blue carpet at a photo call before the Berlin premiere of Seven Pounds yesterday. The costars have been making their way around Europe promoting the movie, but aren't showing any signs of homesickness or fatigue. Will's no stranger to touring the world, and not even the film's lackluster showing at the box office can break his stride or his spirit.

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Will Smith hammed it up with his costar Rosario Dawson on the red carpet at the Seven Pounds Paris premiere yesterday. His newest movie may not be his biggest hit, but Will still generated the most box office revenue of any actor in 2008. Will has lots of reasons for his ear-to-ear grin as he begins a new year of churning out movies and passing down the talent of creating box office gold to his kids.

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It seems the dismal weather plaguing parts of the nation proved detrimental to box office earnings this weekend. Of the less-than-robust numbers, however, the Jim Carrey-Zooey Deschanel comedy Yes Man ended up taking the most in ticket sales with a little over $18 million. Will Smith's Seven Pounds did almost as well, though still worse than expected with $16 million.

Variety claims both movies "were expected to come in at least $5 million higher" and blames inclement weather for the quiet opening weekend:

Friday’s crippling storm in the Northeast dragged down grosses dramatically in a menacing start to the Christmas holiday. Weekend was down by as much as 44% over last year. In Boston, Friday’s B.O. dropped a whopping 81% from the previous Friday, while it fell 45% in Gotham.

Yeesh. After Seven Pounds, The Tale of Despereaux came in third place, followed by The Day the Earth Stood Still and Four Christmases respectively. In less bah-humbuggy news, the indie film market is doing quite well these days: The Mickey Rourke movie The Wrestler had an excellent weekend, as did Slumdog Millionaire.

This upcoming holiday weekend promises a whole slew of fresh blood at theaters: Marley & Me, Valkyrie, Bedtime Stories, The Spirit, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all open in wide release on Christmas Day this Thursday.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

If you were confused by the trailer for Seven Pounds that's because the movie is mostly one long guessing game, meant to have a confusing, slow build-up to a twisty surprise ending. There seems to be such an emphasis on keeping the audience wondering what's going on, and I was frustrated not because I didn't understand the "why"s of the plot but because it's hard to care enough about these characters — even the lead played by Will Smith — to truly want to figure out what the heck's going on.

Mostly I just wished they would stop talking in gratingly general terms ("Remember that thing you took from me?" "Yes, and I remember the thing I gave you, too." "It's all about that pact we made a while ago! Remember the pact? And that other thing?"). This goes on for an absurdly long time and I just wanted to shout "Enough already! Tell us what the deal is so we can all go home!" This is not a good sign. I stuck with it until the end though, so for some of my thoughts on it all, read more

Will Smith usually has his real life family by his side on the red carpet, but last night at the Seven Pounds premiere in LA he was joined by his former on screen relatives. Alfonso Ribeiro and Tatyana Ali who co-starred with Will on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, smiled big out to support the big star. Will wasn't the only of the movie's stars out to celebrate — Rosario Dawson looked sexy in her hot little dress, but unfortunately Tom Cruise didn't bring his son Connor out for his first big acting premiere. The movie hits theaters this Friday and while the trailer is still a bit cryptic it looks like one of our favorite male stars of the year, Will, gives another memorable performance.

To see more from the premiere including Gabrielle Union, Woody Harrelson, Tyrese Gibson and others just read more

Will Smith was in Charlotte, NC, yesterday for the latest screening of Seven Pounds. His film isn't out until next Friday, but there will still be some Smith family action at the box office this weekend with the release of his son Jaden's The Day the Earth Stood Still. Even without the company of his costar Rosario Dawson, there was plenty of Will's goodwill to go around. Like his other recent premieres, Will organized a food drive to go along with his appearance keeping up his charitable holiday spirit.

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Will Smith had his big smile ready to go for his fans at a benefit screening of Seven Pounds in Missouri last night. This was just one of the five places he'll show his movie for charity, and the next stop will be in Cleveland later today. Will kicked things off by donating turkeys in Miami, and he's already planning to keep giving back right through the holiday season. He said, "Our Christmas this year, our family is not doing internal giving. All external. So we're giving to others, so in Jada's name, I'll give to a charity or something like that. And that's almost bubbling from the kids. It's not like something that we have to say to them." Sounds like Will and Jada's kids already have their parents passion for giving while Will also gets to premiere his new project.

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