Independence Day
Here ’s why Will Smith is a box office megastar , despite only make one $ 1 billion moving-picture show to his name . Last class , Smith followed in the footsteps of the late , great Robin Williams by play the singing , dancing , and occasionally wish - granting Genie in Disney ’s live - action remake of its animatedAladdinadaptation . The blockbuster went on to become Smith ’s highest - grossing film of all time ( unadjusted for inflation ) , as well as his first to ever pass the $ 1 billion soft touch at the worldwide box function .
It ’s a little surprising Smith does n’t have more billion - dollar hits to his name , considering thesheer number of box office records he ’s brokensince becoming a full - blow movie hotshot in the mid-’90s . He ’s still the only doer to have eight back-to-back film go by $ 100 million at the U.S. box office ( a run which begin withMen in Black IIin 2002 and ended six long time by and by withSeven Pounds ) , and continued to appear in lucrative tentpoles likeSuicide Squadafter that , leading up toAladdin . As a side result of the coronavirus lockdown , Smith’sBad Boys for Lifeis eventhe top - grossing movie of 2020 so far(with $ 419 million ) .
tie in : Will Smith Starred in Two Movies With the Same Plot in the Past Year
To understand why Smith does n’t have more billion - dollar movies to his name , you have to take care at the change in the blockbuster landscape over the past two ten . When Smith was at the blossom of his box seat role powers in the ' 90 and ' 00s , billion - one dollar bill films were much less common than they were today . For example , when Smith starred inIndependence DayandMen in Blackback to back in 1996 and ' 97 , the highest - grossing flick of all metre wasJurassic Parkat $ 914 million ( not adapt for pomposity ) . It was n’t untilTitanicopened in theaters five months afterMIBthat billion - buck tentpoles were even a thing .
Titanicwas still one of a few exceptions to the rule until the latter one-half of the ' 00s , when mega - hitsPirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men ’s ChestandThe Dark Knightboth grossed over $ 1 billion during their initial run and help to usher in an era where billion - dollar films are far more common . This was around the same sentence Smith went on a break afterSeven Poundsand did n’t asterisk in another movie until 2012’sMen in Black III , which arrived just a few weeks afterThe Avengers ' game - changing first step . By that point , however , Smith had already recognized the age of star vehicles was ending and moviegoers were far more interested in franchise that A - tilt actors . He had even made plans to launcha share universe of his own with 2013’sAfter Earth , only to abandon them when the cinema barge in and burned at the box office .
After that , Smith did n’t immediately gravitate to franchise fare , choosing to alternatively lend his talents to the con artist dramedyFocusand wannabe Oscar baitConcussionandCollateral Beauty . All three task accrue well short of the same box office peak reached by the actor ’s movies in his blossom , at a meter when even reference actors like Mark Ruffalo were adding one $ 1 billion hit after another to their resume thanks to their MCU appearances . Smith has seen more mixed success since then ; whileSuicide SquadandAladdinwere big hits , only the latter oversee to give the billion - dollar mark , and the thespian ’s last original hot - action fomite , 2019’sGemini Isle of Man , was a flat - out bomb . Still , withBad boy 4on the horizon , Smith ’s career is still in moderately good shape . And who knows : perhapsthe now - developingAladdin 2will give him his second billion - dollar hitting .
NEXT : Suicide Squad 2 : Why Will Smith ’s Deadshot Is n’t Returning for the Sequel
