There probably won’t be any more Men in Black movies, with audiences having given a collective thumbs-down to the spin-off that was released a few years ago, and the original trilogy having always been a nightmare to produce. Men in Black 3 remains one of the most expensive movies ever made, one that entered production without a finished second or third act. It also resulted in star Will Smith earning as much as $100 million through his lucrative back-end deal, pretty much ensuring that further sequels would simply be too expensive to produce. Now, 13 years after its release, the film is witnessing a surge in interest on streaming.
According to FlixPatrol, Men in Black 3 debuted on the Paramount+ streaming service to instant success, finishing ninth on the streamer’s leader board on October 26. Men in Black and Men in Black 2 also found spots on the top 10 list. The third installment took several years to put together, arriving a decade after the second film. Director Barry Sonnenfeld admitted in an interview that it wasn’t the most responsible decision to enter production without a completed script. The project was made all the more risky because of a budget that has been reported to be as high as $250 million.
Men in Back 3 featured a time-travel plot that saw Smith’s character, Agent J, going back to the 1960s to rescue the younger version of his partner, Agent K, who was played in the film by Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. The movie was a box office hit, grossing over $620 million globally and emerging as the biggest hit of the trilogy. It received mixed reviews (and a rave from director Paul Thomas Anderson), and is sitting at a 67% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “It isn’t exactly a persuasive argument for the continuation of the franchise, but Men in Black III is better than its predecessor and manages to exceed expectations.”
Will Smith Last Starred in ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’
According to a report following the failure of After Earth, The Hollywood Reporter said that Smith earned $100 million for his work on the movie, and quoted a source as saying that a similar deal would probably be unfeasible going forward. However, it was reported that he earned an upfront $30 million salary for his work on the Apple project Emancipation, which debuted after he assaulted Chris Rock at the Oscars a few years ago and caused significant damage to his career. Smith seems to be climbing his way back, however, having recently starred in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which grossed $400 million worldwide.
You can watch the Men in Black trilogy at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
May 23, 2012
Runtime
106 minutes
Writers
Etan Cohen
Sequel(s)
Men in Black 4
