Will Smith is one of the most bankable movie stars of all time, and in the 2000s, he was more bankable than any other actor in the world. If his name was attached to a movie, no matter how good or bad it was, it was all but guaranteed that it'd be a smash hit at the box office.
Between his effortless-looking ability to switch between dramatic and comedic acting, and being able to rap and dance, there's nothing the actor can't do, which makes for such an entertaining time at the movie theatre. But, interestingly, the actor only has one billion-dollar-grossing movie to his name.
Shark Tale (2004) - $374.5 Million
Shark Tale is one of the weirdest animated movies of the 21st century. The animation is weird, the narrative is weird, Martin Scorsese voicing a pufferfish accountant is weird. But no matter how off-putting or clumsy Will Smith's likeness looks on a cleaner wrasse, audiences still showed up in droves to see the film.
The 2004 movie is somewhat of a parody of gangster movies like Goodfellas and The Godfather, so most of the jokes fly over its target audience's heads. However, the film was a smash hit, and even just Smith's recognizable voice was bankable enough to get fans into cinemas. It's surprising that Smith hasn't returned to animation, as it's such a big payday for relatively easy work, but the hazing he got by critics after the release of Shark Tale could be why.
Bad Boys For Life (2020) - $426.5 Million
It's an impressive feat that Bad Boys For Life managed to earn over $150 million more than its predecessor, as that significant increase is more than just inflation. The return of the odd couple detective team was more than welcomed by fans, and it became the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of 2020, but there's an asterisk next to that achievement.
Bad Boys for Life got lucky, as it was released right before COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic. In any other year, there would have been a handful of billion-dollar-grossing movies and the movie wouldn't have even made the top 10. So while it was a great result for the 2020 movie, it was a bad result for the 2020 domestic and international box office.
Men In Black II (2002) - $445.1 Million
Armed with another creative concept and family-friendly rap song, it would have been impossible for Men In Black II to fail, no matter how good or bad it was. However, it certainly underperformed in the studio's eyes, as it made $140 million less than the first movie. Sony couldn't have been happy about it, especially considering that it had a significantly inflated budget.
Given how the film didn't feel as fresh as the original 1997 movie and recycles many of the beats and jokes, the phoned-in approach to the screenplay was to blame for its underwhelming box office intake. The new song, "Black Suits Comin,'" also performed much worse than the first song on the Billboard Hot 100 too.
I Am Legend (2007) - $585.4 Million
While Will Smith has been nominated for several Academy Awards over the years, including for the newly released King Richard, I Am Legend showed how well the star can carry a film. Unfortunately, Smith would never have been nominated for the 2007 movie, as the Academy rarely looks at horror films when considering performances, but the actor is, for the most part, the only human character in the movie.
That makes it much more impressive that the film made way over half a billion dollars. Not only that, but as Legend is an incredible twisted horror movie, it achieved box office success that no other movie in its genre ever has.
Men In Black (1997) - $589.3 Million
Men In Black was like lightning in a bottle, as Smith's entire skillset was on full show, and between his comedy acting and his rapping, the 1997 movie was essentially the perfect showcase for him to become a movie star. Men In Black is one of the best non-superhero comic book movies, and its appeal was unprecedented.
Despite Smith being somewhat of a newcomer on the big screen, he was the reason everybody was going to see the movie. It was also a perfect decision on the producers' part to cast him alongside the complete opposite and stoic Tommy Lee Jones. And with the high concept of aliens invading the planet, there's no way the movie could have failed.
Men In Black 3 (2012) - $624 Million
As every movie in a franchise does when the series is out of ideas, Men In Black 3 resorted to time travel. But regardless of the plot, it had enough new and refreshing ideas that it had a much better reception than the second movie, and that was reflected in its box office intake.
Strangely, though one of the biggest trademarks and appeals of the Men In Black series is the rap songs from Will Smith, it was actually Pit Bull who delivered the tie-in pop song this time around. The studio should have gotten comedy band Flight of the Conchords to record the song, seeing as Jermaine Clement (one-half of the band) played the villain in the movie. They might not have the same amount of reach as Pitbull, but it would have been hilarious.
Hancock (2008) - $629.4 Million
Hancock saw Smith's first attempt at getting in on the superhero trend fairly early on, but there's an interesting twist to the genre. The movie follows superhero John Hancock who is an alcoholic and often causes millions of dollars worth of damages. The city holds the hero accountable for his actions, so, though it was negatively received, the movie was way ahead of its time, tackling the same moral dilemmas that Captain America: Civil War would eight years later.
Hancock's box office result is one of the best examples of how bankable Smith was in the 2000s, as the film is one of the few superhero movies that isn't actually based on any existing property. It's an original movie, and it even made more than another superhero movie that was released in the same year, Iron Man, which is shocking considering how Iron Man is now one of the most popular superheroes of all time.
Suicide Squad (2016) - $746.8 Million
Interestingly, I Am Legend hinted at a DC movie universe, as a Superman V Batman movie poster was hanging in the street in the dystopian movie. But it wouldn't be until nine years later when that movie would finally get released, and shortly after that, Smith played Deadshot, who had a conflict with Batman in the universe in Suicide Squad. And when it comes to the box office, Suicide Squad is one of the most interesting subjects.
Though there are ways it's better than The Suicide Squad, it was hated by almost anybody who saw it, whether it was critics or general audiences, but, somehow, it managed to make an enormous amount of money worldwide. People were intrigued more than anything, whether it was the strange, gangster rapper-like depiction of Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, or even Smith as Deadshot.
Independence Day (1996) - $817.4 Million
Smith might have had success as a musician and in television with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but it was Independence Day that was the actor's breakthrough movie role and turned him into a movie star. If Independence Day was remade today, it'd have a much different cast, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as good without Smith's charm, charisma, and presence on screen.
Though he hadn't led any major movie previous to the alien invasion flick, he was the sole reason the film made as much as it did. While a sum like $800 million isn't all that surprising in 2021, it was an astronomical figure for a movie in 1996. And his absence from the sequel released 20 years later, Independence Day: Resurgence, is a big part of why it bombed.
Aladdin (2019) - $1.05 Billion
There was a lot of concern by fans of the original animated movie when it was announced that Smith would be taking over from Robin Williams as the Genie in the live-action remake of Aladdin. But a radical left turn was exactly what the movie needed, as that's a much better approach than simply trying to replicate Williams' comedic genius.
Despite everyone's fears, Smith's take on the iconic character was the best thing about the live-action movie. And, finally, though some of his films have grossed a billion dollars if adjusted for inflation, Smith now has a literal billion-dollar-grossing movie to his name.