AFTER EARTH What could possibly go wrong?
AFTER EARTH What could possibly go wrong?
  • AFTER EARTH “This’ll be fun, dad! What could possibly go wrong?”

This summer’s most expensive vanity project, After Earth, did not… hmm. Let us say it did not fare very well.

A box office era ended over the weekend, as Will Smith, once Hollywood’s most dependable summer performer, imploded in spectacular fashion at North American theaters. Mr. Smith’s After Earth, a Sony Pictures Entertainment movie that cost $135 million to produce and roughly $100 million to market worldwide, took in an estimated $27 million from Friday to Sunday—or 18 percent less than the lowest of prerelease expectations. (Via.)

After Earth was based on a story by Will Smith and felt like a thing he wrote to showcase his son, Jaden; then they brought on M. Night Shyamalan to direct the thing, which he did with all the passion and verve of a guy who’s been made fun of a whole lot and now doesn’t want to do anything even remotely interesting lest he invite any more ridicule. Anyway, so it goes, and Hollywood’s releasing too many blockbusters this summer and crowding the marketplace, and you predicted how The Sixth Sense was going to end and oh my aren’t you smart, and etc. NOW LET’S GET TO THE IMPORTANT QUESTION:

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

4 replies on “Jaden Smith: A QUESTION FOR THE AGES”

  1. iPad viruses… crash… something… alien hands can’t use touchscreens. Son has to track down father to learn how to fly and fight the aliens. A sunglass company sponsorship. This thing practically writes itself.

  2. I suppose you could say that “After Earth” made audiences go into Shyamalanaphylactic shock.

    Or that it should’ve been released as a “Will Smithee” movie.

    Yes, you could say those things, if I hadn’t already.

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