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Jaden Smith, son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, is set to star in Columbia Pictures new version of the 1984 hit The Karate Kid.

Chris Murphy is writing the script that is set in exotic locations like Bejjing. Karate Kid will be similar to the original plot where a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of eccentric mentor.

Filming begins next year.

According to variety, Smith, who next stars in The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a martial arts practitioner.

Interestingly, Columbia has been trying to find a way to bring back the series, which began with three films that featured Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. The series also launched Hilary Swank’s career in The Next Karate Kid.

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A chance for Steven Spielberg and Will Smith to work together would be fantastic. They both hold their own brilliantly. Together would be a lava flow. Variety just reported that the two are in discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy.  The film won Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

DreamWorks is working on securing the remake rights, and the new film will be distributed by Universal.

In the 2003 Korean original, which is a second installment of The Vengeance Trilogy, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Spielberg would like to take this opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the process of putting the production together.

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Variety reports that Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Oldboy, a Korean film by CHan Wook-park. Dreamworks is reportedly in the process of securing the remake rights, with the new film to be distributed by Universal.

The 2003 original saw a man getting kidnapped and held in a cell for 15 years without any explanation. Suddenly, he is freed, given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on the path to discover who destroyed his life.

Smith is hoping to play the kidnapped man. Writers are being looked for right now to begin the development process.

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The second trailer shows more about the movie, Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith. It appears to be about redemption and helping others.  What a great movie for the Christmas season.

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Seven Pounds looks like an awesome film with Will Smith, but the trailer doesn’t say much about the movie or story.  Looks like he’s redeeming himself and falls in love. Were those SS#’s?  It’s hard to tell.

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Warner Bros. sparked a development project for prequel to the Will Smith starrer I Am Legend.

The plan is for Smith to bring back his role as scientist Robert Neville with Francis Lawrence returning to direct.

The studio has set D.B.Weiss to write a script that is based on a detailed outline that was hatched over the past few months by Smith, his producing partners and Lawrence.

Variety reports the prequel will chronicle the final days of humanity in New York before a man-made virus caused a plague that left Smith’s character the lone survivor among a mutated mob in the city.

Producing a prequel is the only way to extend I Am Legend franchise that grossed $584 million worldwide for Warner Bros. and maintain Smith in the lead role. To refresh your memory, his character was killed in the first film, after extracting a potential cure for the virus for the scattered survivors.

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Pharaoh my be Will Smith’s next role.

We are going ancient with Pharaoh Taharqa who battled Assyrain invaders in Egypt in the story The Last Pharaoh.

According to Variety, Smith brought the pharaoh story to Randall Wallace of Braveheart. He is set to write the story that centers on Taharqa battles with Esarhaddon, Assyrain leader, around 677B.C.

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December 12 Seven Pounds opens nationally.  The teaser trailer doesn’t say much about the film, which is about an IRS agent (Will Smith) who’s made some seedy mistakes in the past and wants to redeem himself by helping seven people.  He meets Emily (Rosario Dawson), a beautiful woman with a heart condition. He falls in love with her, which complicates matters.

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                                                                          GROSS          TOTAL
1. Hancock                                                   $90,760,877     $132,034,444
2. WALL-E                                                    $49,575,487     $144,262,312
3. Wanted                                                     $30,322,560     $100,458,885
4. Get Smart                                                 $17,371,556     $104,362,800
5. Kung Fu Panda                                         $11,839,667     $197,742,899
6. Incredible Hulk, The                                $7,638,975       $127,581,090
7. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl                $6,163,972       $8,689,587
8. Indiana Jones Kingdom Crystal Skull       $5,573,573       $308,227,287
9. Sex And The City                                     $3,992,860       $146,501,747
10. Love Guru, The                                      $3,239,893    $30,861,198
Data provided by Rentrak from Variety

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Hancock is Will Smith’s top grossing film on the 4th of July Holiday ever.  The movie about a flawed superhero brought in an estimated $18.8 million domestically. The total surpasses Independance Day $17.3 million in 1996.

Even though some reviewers seemed “so-so” about Hancock, it looks like movie goers are digging it. However, as I posted earlier in the week New Yorker film critic David Denby wrote a postive review.

With these numbers proves Will Smith has the box-office-bang touch.

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