Sipa via AP Images

Here's some news Will Smith can take to the bank, along with those eight-figure paychecks: The Hancock star is the top-paid actor in Hollywood, according to the latest figures from the number crunchers over at Forbes.com.

Based on salaries earned between June 1, 2007, through June 1, 2008, Smith bested all competitors, male or female, raking in an estimated $80 million for his big-screen efforts.

His nearest moneymaking rival is Johnny Depp, whose pirate's booty totaled $72 million.

Not bad for a year's work.

Keep Reading

Universal Pictures

Hellboy had a good weekend. Will Smith had an impressive one. Brendan Fraser had an okay one. Eddie Murphy didn't. Have any of the above.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army topped the Friday-Sunday box office with $35.9 million, according to Exhibitor Relations estimates today.

In its second weekend, Smith's Hancock slipped to No. 2, but definitively proved its bad reviews were no match for its star's appeal and moviegoers' taste. The superhero tale grossed another $33 million, and scored the modern box office's ultimate compliment—ticket sales fell less than 50 percent.

Fraser's Journey to the Center of the Earth, a 3-D remake of the classic Jules Verne adventure, opened in third, with $20.6 million.

Murphy's Meet Dave, meanwhile, looked like it was in for a brief, unpleasant run.

Keep Reading

Sony Pictures

Will Smith did Hancock a solid.

Smith has star-powered the poorly reviewed superhero hybrid to a $66 million opening weekend, and a No. 1 finish, according to Exhibitor Relations estimates today.

WALL-E, last weekend's champ, stayed strong, grossing another $33.4 million, but finished a distant second.

Hancock goes down as Smith's seventh straight movie to open No. 1. If you count Shark Tale, the 2004 animated comedy, as a Smith movie, his streak stands at eight straight.

Overall, Hancock has grossed $107.3 million since "previewing" on Tuesday night and "opening" on Wednesday.

Keep Reading

Frank Masi/Sony Pictures

The reviews aren't great. The genre's iffy. Will Smith's the star.

As far as box-office business goes, everything should be fine.

Big things were expected, per usual, of Smith, and his less-than-usual latest, Hancock, opening Wednesday.

"I think it's going to be another Will Smith gigantic opening weekend," says box-office expert Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers.

Dergarabedian predicted Hancock could make $75-$80 million from Friday-Sunday, and expected the film to clear $100 million, easy, over its first five days, from Wednesday-Sunday. An opening of that size would lift Hancock, the tale of an unconventional superhero, right into the airpspace of Iron Man.

Keep Reading

Lisa O'Connor/ZUMAPress.com

They say the pen is mightier than the sword.

And in Hollywood, sometimes a Sharpie can be more important than the box office—at least when it comes to Will Smith and his pal Tom Cruise.

The Hancock star tells USA Today about the friendly stars' long-standing rivalry about who spends the most time signing his, well, John Hancock.

"It's hard to beat that dude," says Smith. "He has another gear. He did 2½ hours in France for Mission: Impossible on the red carpet. Now when I go to France, people will say, 'You know, Tom was out here for 2½ hours.' "

Despite such competitiveness between the Tinseltown titans, Smith is still protective of his friend...

Keep Reading

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Young Jaden Smith hasn't even broken into double digits agewise—he's 9 years old—and already the dude is smoother than most guys will be ever.

Check The Pursuit of Happyness star hanging with the Clique Girlz at the premiere of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, and try not to think about what you were doing at 9.