Forget Will Smith

There’s a fourth Men in Black film in development at Sony with Oren Uziel working on a screenplay. It’s not clear if his concept is dependent on the involvement of Will Smith, but Smith has suggested that “three is enough” and he’s not that interested in coming back for more.
But in an ideal world, this would all be academic. Because in the ideal world, the next time we see Men in Black on silver screen, it would be Bobcat Goldthwait behind the camera.
Goldthwait’s new film is Willow Creek, a movie about Bigfoot. The director clearly has an interest in the Fortean, and he’s been speaking about this in a series of recent interviews. This and all sorts of other bric a brac.
It was during a chat with George Knapp on Coast to Coast that the Men in Black came up. These aren’t specifically the movie Men in Black, but the notion of, well, men in black that the film draws on, the mysterious figures that have been linked to UFO appearances and strange abductions and disappearances since long before The X-Files was a twinkle in Chris Carter’s eye.
Goldthwait says that he has an idea for a film that would feature some Men in Black.

I am always interested in Men in Black and stuff. I have another idea for another movie that I might make that would involve them.

On the one hand, this is just one of many ideas that Goldthwait has. There’s his abortion clinic zombie movie, Anklebiters; there’s Rio Malo, his gay spin on Billy Jack movies; there’s Plant Bill, a Gondry-esque fantasy; and there’s a musical based on the Kinks’ concept album, Schoolboys in Disgrace. And there’s likely to be plenty more he hasn’t spoken about.
But on the other hand, Goldthwait initiates so many of his own projects and is so driven to tell these stories, there’s every chance we’ll be seeing his Men in Black rolling up their tinted windows sooner or later.
Here’s the full Coast to Coast interview.

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The Frightfest program is announced on Friday. I’m wishing hard that Willow Creek will be on there.

Will Smith won’t be in ‘Independence Day 2,’ director confirms

Director Roland Emmerich revealed that the star wouldn’t return to the action film sequel because ‘he’s too expensive.’

Will Smith is 'too expensive,' director Roland Emmerich said.

The next alien invasion will have to happen without Will Smith.
"Independence Day 2," which was recently set for a July 3, 2015 release date by 20th Century Fox, will not feature the original film's above the marquee star, director Roland Emmerich confirmed to the Daily News.

"Will Smith can not come back because he's too expensive, but he'd also be too much of a marquee name," said Emmerich, while promoting his latest film, "White House Down." "It would be too much.
"We have like maybe half of the people that you know would know from the first film (in the script) and the other half people who are new," the German director added.

The filmmakers are hoping the sequel to 1996's "Independence Day" - which grossed a whopping $817.4 million during an era of cheaper ticket prices and helped launch Smith's career as an A-lister in Hollywood -- will be the first of a two part story, tentatively titled "ID Forever, Part I" and "Part II."
Screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("The Amazing Spider-Man," "Zodiac") is in the midst of polishing the original script by Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin. "We're not doing a total reboot, we're doing something that's totally unusual," said Emmerich.

The director wouldn't divulge what would be totally unusual in the plot of the new movie; there was one nugget, however, he didn't mind divulging.
"I think some aliens will be back," he said laughing.

Sony Commissions Script for "Men in Black 4"

Following the success of last summer's installment, Sony intends to continue to expand its lucrative "Men In Black" franchise, though how involved star Will Smith will be in the next chapter is uncertain.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has hired writer Oren Uziel to script "Men in Black 4," after he finishes writing the sequel to 2012's surprise hit "21 Jump Street."
"MiB 3" proved to be a winner, raking in a series-best $624 million worldwide and adding Josh Brolin and Emma Thompson to the films' roster of stars. While neither Brolin nor Thompson are likely to return for the fourth installment, Tommy Lee Jones has expressed an interest in reprising his role as Agent K once again. "I Hope we can start tomorrow," Jones quipped while promoting "MiB 3," citing his happiness with how well the third movie turned out.
The original "Men in Black" invaded theaters in 1997, finishing its box office run with a worldwide gross of over $587 million. The first sequel arrived in 2002 and grossed $442 million.

Will Smith does not mind Jaden taking over Men in Black 4

Actor Will Smith's Men in Black is considered his most successful franchise but the actor says he done with it and won't be returning for another. "I think three is enough for me. Three of anything is enough for me. We'll look at it and we'll consider it, but it feels like that it might be time to let someone else do that," he said.
When asked how he'd feel about his son Jaden Smith replacing him in the next MIB film, Will seemed welcome to the idea, reported Aceshowbiz. "If they were interested in that - that's not something that I'm pushing for, or I don't even know if Jaden is interested, but we're open," said Will, who has teamed up with Jaden in Pursuit of Happyness and recently After Earth.
There is still no word on whether Jones will be invited back to headline the upcoming project or not. As of now Mortal Kombat scribe Oren Uziel is already on board to work n the script.

Will Smith Has No Interest In Men In Black 4

There wouldn’t be a Men In Black franchise without Will Smith. Yes, the charismatic A-list action hero made sweet music with the curmudgeonly Tommy Lee Jones, but the franchise needs both of them to succeed … or, Smith and Josh Brolin doing a spot-on impersonation of TLJ. Now, however, Brolin might have to do his best Smith, as the After Earth star tells Collider that he has no real interest at the moment in pursuing any more chapters in the sci-fi comedy franchise.

"I think three is enough for me,” Smith said in the interview. “Three of anything is enough. We’ll look at it, and consider it, but it feels like it might be time to let someone else do that.”

Maybe his son, Jaden? The idea is floated to Smith, who remains noncommittal. That’s sad news for Sony, which owns the rights to the MIB franchise and made quite a lot of money from the trilogy. BoxOfficeMojo has the series at $1.6 billion in worldwide ticket sales, with the most recent – the 2012 summer comedy MIB 3 -- taking in a whopping $624 million … the most of the entire franchise.

It should be noted that Smith gave these comments at an After Earth junket prior to the movie under-performing at the box office. Maybe the low number for Smith’s collaboration with M. Night Shyamalan will change his mind? Because we all know that actors love running back to the safety net of a proven franchise when they experience a bomb. Smith might reconsider Men In Black 4 if his ego’s badly bruised.

‘Men In Black 4′ To Go On Without Will Smith?

While Men In Black 3’s announcement was a bit of a surprise, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that the studio would want another Men In Black sequel. The shocker here is that if Sony is really gung-ho about the film, and goes forward as they plan to, they may have to do it without its lead star Will Smith.
Despite bombing at the box office with his latest flick After Earth, Smith still is a huge contender for box office numbers, and a well established series such as Men In Black without its lead could be a huge upset at the movies. However, that’s what we may be looking at if Men In Black 4 doesn’t get stuck in limbo.

In a recent interview, Will Smith didn’t sound too pumped for a Men In Black 4, as he stated:  “I think three is enough for me. Three of anything is enough for me. We’ll look at it and we’ll consider it, but it feels like that it might be time to let someone else do that.”
The Men In Black franchise saw Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) erase people’s minds as part of their alien clean up, while dueling with evil aliens that were secretly inhabiting earth.  The mind erasing plot point has been played with throughout the franchise, and it looks like they may have to do some mind erasing for Agent J and bring in a new agent.
Another agent that seems to have one foot out the door is Tommy Lee Jones. Jones, who plays the Debbie downer grump of the franchise was barely in the third film. Instead his role was a much younger K played by Josh Brolin, as Agent J went back in time. Though it hasn’t been said whether or not Tommy Lee Jones wants out of the franchise, we can definitely see another back in time film with Josh Brolin, but we can’t imagine anyone that could play off of Brolin, who’s as goofy and charming with the same charisma as Will Smith.
Do you think Men In Black 4 survive without Will Smith?