The stars were out for the premiere of the new terrorism-themed film The Kingdom in LA on Monday. Jennifer Garner looked stunning in a loose red dress with tiered layers. Jada Pinkett Smith’s outfit was a definite miss, though. She wore fuschia satin shorts paired with a matching jacket. She loves bright colors and looks great in simple dresses with shocking colors, but her look was just wrong. Her husband Will looked hot though in a quilted black leather jacket, shades and dark jeans.

I saw the trailer for this movie during one of my rare nights out when my husband and I went to see The Bourne Supremacy. It looks like a good intelligent thriller, and centers around FBI agents, played by Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Chris Cooper, trying to capture a lead terrorist after a civilian attack on the US. Watching the trailer gave me goosebumps and it hit too close to home for me as I lived right near NY when 9/11 happened. I’m not sure theater-goers are ready for that with the war still going on and touching so many people. (Not that there is any connection between the war and 9/11. It’s just that too many people have died recently through random acts of terrorism, and there’s a lot of that in this movie.) It looks like it provides the riveting story of the capture of a top terrorist, but I don’t think I would be able to watch it, even on DVD.

Here’s the trailer:

The Kingdom is getting decent reviews, and is said to be an action-packed film with a tight plot. It currently has a 60% aggregate critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Kingdom is out in US theaters on September 28.

Shown at the premiere are Jennifer Garner, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, a hot-looking pregnant Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Jeremy Piven looking beat, Amanda Peet, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman. Thanks to PRPhotos for these pictures.

Forbes.com just released an analysis of who gives movies studios the most bang for their buck. I was kind of surprised, but it turns out the best investment is Matt Damon. In a way it makes sense: those “It” actors and actresses command such huge paychecks, that investment-wise, it’s hard to get the same return. For every dollar that Matt Damon is paid for a film, the movie returned $29. Pretty good deal.

“According to Forbes’ first-ever list of Ultimate Star Payback, the movie stars who deliver the best bang for the buck aren’t the industry’s top earners. Matt Damon, the soft-spoken leading man in box office winner The Bourne Ultimatum, turns out to be Hollywood’s best investment. For every dollar Damon got paid for his last three roles, his films returned $29 of gross income. And, surprisingly, former ‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston is Hollywood’s most profitable actress, despite duds like ‘Rumor Has It.’ For ever dollar the former Mrs. Pitt was paid for her last three major roles, her films on average returned $17 of gross income.”

[From Forbes.com]

Second place for actors went to Brad Pitt, and third place was a tie between Johnny Depp and Vince Vaughn. Vince Vaughn is the biggest surprise to me. It must be because he makes about $34 a film, so if the film makes $43,000 you’ve got a pretty good deal. Vaughn’s rate is actually about a million a film, a relative bargain in Hollywood terms. Forbes points out that his last three movies “’The Break-Up,’ ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ‘Dodgeball’–have been box office bonanzas relative to their low production costs. (At $52 million, The Break-Up’s budget was roughly 20% of “Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest.).” The big budget actors like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Will Smith only averaged about $12 in gross income per salary dollar.

The actor who gave the worst return, dollar for dollar? Russell Crowe. Forbes points out that his “standing in Hollywood has shrunk since he scored back-to-back consecutive Oscar nods for ‘The Insider’ (1999), ‘Gladiator’ (2000) and ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001). Crowe’s last three films earned on average just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the star. His most recent, last year’s ‘A Good Year,’ was made for $35 million, almost one-third of which went to Crowe’s salary. The film earned only $40 million in worldwide box office, making it a huge disappointment for Fox, which produced and distributed it.” Logically, it seems like the opposite should be true. Who would ever have guessed that getting three Oscar nominations in three years could be bad for your career?

You know who is not a good investment? Lindsay Lohan. For some reason Forbes doesn’t even bother mentioning this. Probably because it’s so obvious it doesn’t need stating. Ironically, I bet this report will raise Matt Damon’s salary, thus making him less of a great deal. Oh well. He’s still a good actor, and fun to look at.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Matt Damon yesterday at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. Header image of Matt and his wife Luciana Bozan Barroso from the “The Bourne Ultimatum” Los Angeles Premiere. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Will Smith plays a down on his luck superhero in the upcoming film John Hancock (According to IMDB the working title is Tonight, He Comes). The film also stars Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron as Smith’s sort-of love interest. Theron is married to Bateman in the film, and IMDB says that Smith’s superhero has a “questionable” relationship with her character. It might be more of a flirtation than a full blown affair:

A hard-living superhero (Smith) who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife (Theron) of the public relations professional (Bateman) who’s trying to repair his image.

IMDB also includes the keywords “interracial relationship” with this movie, which isn’t something that would occur to me independently. I remember reading that Eva Mendez was chosen for Smith’s love interest in Hitch because American audiences would supposedly accept a Latina in a relationship with an African American guy, but a Caucasian wouldn’t fly. Can anyone remember an interracial relationship in a recent film that wasn’t the focus of the film – like it was just either matter of fact or secondary to the plot? There’s Monster’s Ball I guess.

About.com points out interracial relationships in films and tv shows like Hitch, Guess Who?, ER, Lost, My Name is Earl, Grey’s Anatomy and Will & Grace, and says that they’re becoming more commonplace, but most of those are TV examples. It still doesn’t seem common in movies.

Here’s an article at MTV news about interracial relationships in film.

Thanks to Splash News for these pictures of Smith on set in LA.

Will Smith’s … not running for President yet

Will Smith – recently rumored to have replaced crazy couch bouncer Cruise as Mr. Number One Box Office – may be headed for the ultimate Number One in the Free World– at least according to the slightly confused American Association of Retired People demographic.

Will Smith spoke today at the Motion Picture Association of America in Washington D.C. Mr. Smith told the crowd a hilarious story.

It happened this morning on his way to the event. An older couple approached Smith and said, “We love what you’re doing. You’re so great for the country!” In true Hollywood fashion, Smith said, “Thank you!”

As the star walked away, the old man said, “And we’ll be sure to vote for you.”

(via TMZ)

And he’s not even Barack Obama! What a punch line. That is a hilarious story … old people are a hoot – what with their bad eyesight and race confusion. It’s a knee slapper. Ouch my knee … what with all the slapping.

Come to think of it, Will did express a desire to run for president not that long ago. It was when he was on his ’I am the Greatest’ high – right after shooting Ali. Jada supported the idea. The crazy couch apparently has room for any number of Box Office Stars. Here’s the old quote from USA Weekend:

“I feel like I could be the president of the United States. I really do. … Education has to be the priority. Every other problem we have is based on a lack of education in whatever field. It is not as instant a solution as pouring more money into it, but I feel the greatness of any society is based upon the depth of the scholars. …

“That’s the ultimate rule: The smartest guy wins.”

I can’t see any proof for this thesis of presidential fitness … do we have the smartest guy now … will we have the smartest guy when Will Smith runs or is the smartest guy Barack Obama for hitching his presidential wagon to such a winner as the Fresh Prince of Happyness? Is it smartest to spell happyness with a Y? I’m still a few years away from retirement, but I’m starting to get confused myself.

Pictures via xhollywood and Senator Obama’s Office

Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and their son Jaden were on the red carpet at the Rome premier of Will and Jaden’s film The Pursuit of Happyness. Will and Jada have son Jaden, 8, and a daughter, Willow Camille Reign, 6. Will has another son from his first marriage with Sharee Zampino, Willard Christopher III, 14, who goes by Trey.

The Pursuit of Happyness is the story of a down on his luck single father working against the odds to build a life for his son. I have not seen it yet, but Pajiba critic Dustin Rowles says that it tears at your heartstrings even though it’s so obviously hoaky. It sounds like you should bring some tissues to the theater.

Here’s the trailer:

Will was seen kissing both Jada and Jaden at the Paris premiere of the film. I thought it was pretty cute, but over-the-top gossip site Media Take Out says it’s “borderline criminal.” If kissing your kid is borderline criminal I would be wearing an ankle bracelet now.

I’m not digging Jada’s bubble hairdo but her dress looks decent. She’s got such a good figure she can pull off all those fringes, which might not be flattering on a bigger woman.

Will Smith got his start rapping in the late 80s as part of the rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. He launched his acting career in the early 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Smith’s last album was his 2005 solo work “Lost and Found” with the hit single “Switch.”

He’s now a big box office star and is moving on. Smith suggest he may close the door on his music career and tells Star Magazine that he’s passing the torch to his 17 year-old nephew:

Q: Are we ever going to hear you rap again?
I have a 17 year-old nephew who just started rapping, and he told me it’s time to hang it up. He’ll take it for the family from here.

[From Star Magazine print edition, January 8, 2007]

Smith doesn’t explicitly say that he’ll never rap again, just that his nephew told him not to, so maybe he’ll just take a break for a while and come back.

I remember my friends and I reciting all the lyrics to “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” Here’s the video:

And here’s his last hit single, Switch:

Smith is a talented rapper and I love his pop hip hop style. It seems to me like he’ll get back to music after a break like most other musicians that say they’re finished. I know Jay-Z’s retirement didn’t last long.

Smith currently stars in The Pursuit of Happyness with his son, Jaden.

Jada Pinkett Smith said she was a coked-out slut when she met Will Smith ten years ago and that he saved her from a life of debauchery. Well, that’s not exactly what she said, we’re inferring. It was pretty close, though:

Jada, it’s called college and that’s what everyone does. You’re supposed to move on and not talk about it except to reminisce about how great it was.

Jada has been raising eyebrows with the rock and roll look she’s sporting. She’s the lead singer for heavy metal band, Wisdom. On anyone else this outfit would seem forced, but on Jada it looks rather fitting.

Pictures [via]

The movie ATL opened last night in Los Angeles. Will Smith was a guest at the premiere, but is not starring in the film, an urban coming of age drama about four friends trying to get out of the ghetto. ATL stars Tip “T.I.” Harris, Antwan ‘Big Boi’ Patton, Albert Daniels, Jackie Long, and Evan Ross.

It is loosely based on the filmmakers’ youth in Atlanta in the 80s:

Here’s the trailer:

It has been getting mixed reviews, but looks like a strong drama and should be worth seeing.

And here are the pictures from the premiere, with guests and stars attending including Tyra Banks, Dallas Austin, Big Boi, Cedric the Entertainer, Tracie Ellis Ross, Evans Ross, Diana Ross, Gabrielle Union, Garcelle Beauvias-Nilon, Johnny Gill, Rickey Bell, Kelly Rowland, Nia Long, Paula Jai Parker, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, T.I., Brandy, Evans Ross, Jackie Long, Dania Ramirez, Bow Wow, Khadijah Haqq, Malika Hagg, and Lauren London.

20 pictures after the jump.

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