The Talented Mr. Smith and His Money-Making Ways. -- Hoover’s Business Insight Zone

The Talented Mr. Smith and His Money-Making Ways.

October 29th, 2008

Writing in the previous post about the boost Sony got from Hancock, I was reminded of the insane box-office run that Will Smith has been on. We talked about Smith at some length nearly a year ago, when he was promoting I Am Legend:

The work ethic of Will Smith: “deliberate practice” in action.

Since then, that film and Hancock have brought in more than $1.2 billion between them.

Just for fun, I thought I’d take a tour through his filmography and see how his recent work has fared on IMDB’s All-Time Worldwide Box office list. Here are his last eight films, in reverse chronological order, along with their rankings on that list and their total gross receipts:

38. Hancock (2008) — $623,546,274
45. I Am Legend (2007) — $583,986,216
189. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) — $297,986,036
118. Hitch (2005) — $367,600,000
180. Shark Tale (2004) — $306,162,022
147. I, Robot (2004) — $342,795,350
230. Bad Boys II (2003) — $261,900,000
86. Men in Black II (2002) — $425,600,000

Total receipts for the eight films as a whole: $3.2 billion.

Of the films Smith has made this decade, only Ali (2001) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) aren’t on the list — and Ali brought Smith his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. (He was nominated again for The Pursuit of Happyness.)

Looks like his “sickening work ethic” is paying off.

ADDENDUM, one hour later: This Premiere feature offers excellent insight into Smith’s mindset and work ethic, for example by conveying his belief that “99 percent is the same as zero”:

Triumph of the Will

Near the end of the piece, Smith shares his career goals — which seem to be within reach:

When people look back at my filmography I want to have the most eclectic choices of roles in the history of Hollywood. The most-valued career. [beat] And the most box office.