Did Will Smith's 'After Earth' Really Flop At Box Office

Weekend numbers came in, and Will Smith's new sci-fi movie, After Earth weekend gross came in at $27 million. To a layman, those are huge numbers, but movie critics consider Will a block buster actor, cos most of his movies do over $100 million their first week out, so this is a flop to them. And maybe if you consider the fact that the budget for this movie was $130 million, you would say, 'Yea, this is a flop.' But, personally, I don't consider it a flop.

I remember reading that The Matrix movie was meant to have predominantly African-American actors. Producers said that wouldn't fly, and so they had to have a white leading character (Keanu Reeves). Unfortunately, that's how things play out in Hollywood. Denzel Washington is one of the greatest black actors ever, but you would never see a movie with him as the lead character, without a bunch of white supporting actors around him. Think about it. Is it Man On Fire? Or Training Day? Or the latest one, Safe House? He always plays the role of a supporting actor, or a lead role, with a lot of white supporting actors.

I guess white America is cool with a funny flick with African-Americans predominantly in it, but when it comes to big screen action movies or Sci-Fi, it's a no go area. So, I think Will Smith took a bold step here; being that it's just him and his son (Jaden Smith) on the cover. And yea, the wonderful Sophie Okenedo (Half Nigerian, half British) played Will Smith's wife. Will co-wrote and produced this movie, so this is his little 'baby'...he would probably make his money back in the long run. And he really has big plans for this movie, so maybe it will grow on people. He envisioned After Earth as a multi-platform franchise, including books, graphic novels, and interactive video games, which would all inform and add to the ideas and concepts already developed in the finished film

One thing I can say about Will's career in a whole right now is that maybe he needs to leave his kids alone for a while, and just focus on himself. I have been reading a lot of negative comments on social media sites about Will Smith and his family; it appears people feel he is pimping his children to the world too much, and people are tired of it. Anyway, I think he is just being liberal, and allowing them do whatever they feel would make them happy. I know he pulled Willow out of the 'Annie' project when she said her heart was nolonger in it, so that says a lot.

Below is the list of top 10 highest grossing movies at the Box Office from over the weekend-

10. Mud- $1,226,000 ($16,866,000)

9. Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani- $1,651,000 ($1,651,000)

8. The Great Gatsby (2013)- $6,265,000 ($128,256,000)

7. Iron Man 3- $8,006,000 ($384,751,000)

6. The Hangover Part 3- $15,930,000 ($88,086,000)

5. Epic- $16,400,000 ($65,161,000)

4. Star Trek Into Darkness- $16,400,000 ($181,156,000)

3. After Earth- $27,000,000 ($27,000,000)

2. Now You See Me- $28,050,000 ($28,050,000)