Will Smith & Glen Powell, When Stars Collide

Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:

Bad Boys at the Box Office, Hugh Jackman and some sheep detectives, Elizabeth Banks saves lives, La Cocina saves souls and an unlikely fire.

Let’s go!

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Something remarkable happened this weekend.

Has Will Smith regained his status as a legitimate box-office draw?

Bad Boys: Ride or Die brought in $104.6 M worldwide this weekend (is this ​an interesting trend?​). This was the best domestic R-rated opening weekend since Oppenheimer debuted 11 months ago.

Whatever patina remains from Smith's notorious Oscars slap, his “ride or die” fans came back in force to support him.

But once-luminary box office draws are aging out of believability for their iconic action roles. Will Smith is 55. Keanu Reeves is 59. Tom Cruise is 61 and transitioning to prestige indies.

At a time when cratering box office numbers threaten to prolong an already fledgling recovery period, can aging Hollywood stars and newcomers provide a beacon of hope?

This weekend, rising star Glen Powell, 35, debuted in his first lead role.

Powell, who brought in a shocking $220 M co-starring in the rom-com Anything But You, was finally granted a lead role in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, legitimizing Powell as a major Hollywood force.

Powell stated:

“How do we make a movie that is rewatched and rewatched over decades? “When a movie is really watchable — engaging enough to captivate generations of people — that’s true cultural power.”

He continued:

“Small, intimate movies are also on my bingo board of things I want to do, but rewatchable is an important word. This is where I think actors who want to be serious get it wrong. Flogging yourself and showing how tortured and serious you can be — people often don’t rewatch, which takes all the power out of it.”