Will Smith's new movie "After Earth" hasn't quite set the box office on fire, and the star is obviously disappointed by the performance.
Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel on June 6 on his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live", Smith said that it was tragic. "You get the information moment by moment and I was like 'Uh oh'. It's been almost two decades since I had a movie that wasn't number one. I felt like a fighter: I was the champ walking into the ring...," said Smith, acting out getting punched to complete the sentence.
Smith had another joke to make about it. "Three is the new one. You know how many ones it takes to make a three?" he asked Kimmel. "That's good news for me," responded the talk show host with a laugh.
According to Box Office Mojo, on the weekend of May 31-June 2, "After Earth" opened with $27 million, behind "Fast & Furious 6" and "Now You See Me". Analyzing the result, Buzzfeed put the blame for the movie's performance on Smith, since he produced the film, starred in it, took a "Story by" credit and brought on M Night Shyamalan (who hasn't seen much box office success of late) to direct and co-write the screenplay. Smith is also said to have envisioned the film as a vehicle for him and his son Jaden, which was a mistake according to The Hollywood reporter; it could be a case of "too much, too soon" for the younger Smith, said an analysis there.
Smith has picked himself up after box office debacles, like "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and "Ali", earlier in his career. In a recent interview with GQ UK, he was asked the best piece of advice he's ever received. "Going into the business, a friend said to me, 'Don't let your success go to your head and don't let your failures go to your heart.' I always go back to that. Keep your ego out of this business of creation and create for the purpose of art and putting something of value into the world," was Smith's reply.
