Real-life father and son Jaden and Will Smith play movie father and son in “After Earth”
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Will Smith is doing his best to laugh off the disappointing box office performance of his latest film, “After Earth,” which opened in third place its first weekend before dropping to No. 7 its second. “Now let’s be honest. Three is the new one,” he joked during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “Do you know how many ones it takes to make a three?” On a more serious note, Smith admits the news was hard to take that opening weekend. “Oh man, that was tragic,” he says. “It’s been almost two decades since I had a movie that wasn’t No. 1. What’s over now, buddy!”
Critics slammed “After Earth” with Metro’s reviewer, Matt Prigge, putting the blame squarely on director M. Night Shyamalan. “For someone who directed one of the screen’s greatest child performances, Shyamalan’s a terrible director of child actors. Jaden, a likable braggart in ‘The Karate Kid’ remake, is only a mite less awkward and declamatory than the kids in ‘The Last Airbender,'” he notes.
