After Earth's box office bellyflop appears to have spurred star towards less bankable films
Will Smith is planning to shift his career away from high-profile blockbusters in future.
The actor and one-time rap star is currently facing the fallout from the relative box office failure of new science-fiction epic After Earth. In an interview with Digital Spy, he admitted a desire to shoot films capable of spectacular box office results, but said he was minded to opt for more "danger" when it came to future roles.
"There's something about making movies that just really gets me excited," said the star of Independence Day and I Am Legend, who has been Hollywood's most bankable star of the past two decades. "I love people being wrapped in a story and being able to deliver that emotional punchline at the end.
"It's been an absolute necessity that the movie be a blockbuster, but I think I'm going to start moving out of that and finding more danger in my artistic choices."
After Earth, which is based on an original idea by Smith and features the actor alongside his son Jaden, opened in third place at the US box office last weekend with just $27m. Directed by M Night Shyamalan, it is released in the UK this weekend and stars the two Smiths as father-and-son space explorers who return to earth 1,000 years after humans left the planet.
Critics have dismissed the film's portentous leanings and alleged Scientology-linked overtones. Smith is a well-known celebrity follower of the controversial organisation founded by late science-fiction author L Ron Hubbard.
It is not clear whether Digital Spy's video interview with Smith was filmed prior to After Earth's box office bellyflop, or whether the actor's comments were made in reaction to it.