Oscar Outlook/Summer Preview 2012: Men in Black III (or 3 for the less educated who get tripped up by those silly Roman numerals)

A few years ago, as people showed up less and less because of an actor's name recognition, Will Smith was considered the last of the bona fide movie stars: the only one who could still guarantee a huge opening weekend.  Then, Seven Pounds rolled around and while the $55M production made three times its budget back worldwide, the ponderous, conceptual, nonsensical project was supposed to bring in a lot more on Smith's name alone.  Having left off on a somewhat not-so-bankable note, he hasn't put out a film in over three years.  This summer, however, he's doing what he did the last time his career was in the crapper (or, at least, emerging from it): he put out a Men in Black movie.  Except the following year, there will be no Bad Boys chaser.  Well, not next year, anyway.  Martin Lawrence isn't exactly rocking it these days.

To bring some fresh blood to the premise, the producers threw in Emma Thompson as a supporting lover interest for Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), but send Agent J (Smith) back in time and trade in too much of old Jones for a younger version of himself (Josh Brolin) in a Terminator-type twist.  He goes back to 1969, where the desired time-era forces the audience to buy Brolin as a "21-year-old."  The franchise is known for centering the stories around Smith and his name, as, if you can recall, the original ended with Linda Fiorentino becoming Agent L and the implication that she would be joining them on further adventures.  Well, when her career stalled, she was no where to be found in the sequel.  No matter, she got into the original because of a card game with director Barry Sonnenfeld anyway.

He's taking a break from TV to bring his cartoonish style to the sequel, as he had with previous installments, as well as The Addams Family movies.  Also returning is costume designer Mary E. Vogt, composer Danny Elfman (who got nominated for the original MIB), and production designer Bo Welch (four times AMPAS-nominated, his last time for the original MIB).  All three have worked with Tim Burton.  Cheryl Carasik was conominated for her set decoration on the original MIB and went on to work on the first sequel, but this summer her work will be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter instead.  Makeup Artist Rick Baker was nominated for the first film also (and won), as well as worked on the second and had his hand in the third. [4/14: thank you to Anon for this corrections.] David LeRoy Anderson, who worked with him on the first installment will not be back either.  Cinematographer Donald Peterman passed away last year.  I'm not sure what happened to original editor Jim Miller.

New to the team are editors Don Zimmerman (nominated for Coming Home) and Wayne Wahrman.  Cinematographer Bill Pope has worked on Spider-man films as well as The Matrix Trilogy.  Set decorator: Susan Bode (nominated for Bullets Over Broadway).

It used to be that the gregarious, optimistic Smith was known for opening his films on the fourth of July weekend.  He did just such thing back in 2002 with Men in Black II.  Late that summer, to squeeze a few more dollars out, Sony packaged it together as a double-feature with the original Spider-man.  Ironically, it will be the latest Spider-man that will open the day before Independence Day instead of Smith's film.  Men in Black III opens internationally on the 25th of May and was filmed last summer in New York and L.A.

poll by twiigs.com

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Argo     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Bourne Legacy     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Django Unchained     Gangster Squad     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     The Hobbit     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lincoln     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Magic Mike     The Master     Les Misérables     Life of Pi     Moonrise Kingdom     People Like Us     Prometheus     To Rome with Love     Ruby Sparks     Savages     Seeking a Friend for the End of the World     The Silver Linings Playbook     Smashed     The Surrogate     Trouble with the Curve     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III