When I Am Legend hit theaters in 2007, the film shattered box office records by being the highest grossing non-Christmas movie released in December. However, the movie’s $77 million opening weekend apparently wasn’t good enough for Will Smith at the time. While appearing on the latest episode of Apple TV’s The Oprah Conversation, the blockbuster star revealed that he had such an unhealthy fixation with I Am Legend‘s performance that his producing partner, James Lassiter, actually hung up on him.
Via Entertainment Weekly:
“I’m excited for 30 seconds, and then my mind drifts and I say to J, ‘Hey, why do you think we missed 80?” Smith told Oprah Winfrey. “He said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘No, it was 77, do you think if we would have adjusted the ending? Because I wanted the ending to feel more like Gladiator.’ He’s like, ‘It’s the biggest opening in history, ever. What are you talking about?’ I’m like, ‘J, I get that, I’m just asking why do you think we missed the 80?’ And it’s the only time he ever hung up on me.”
As Oprah expressed how much she loved that someone actually hung up on Smith, the actor laughed and said that the incident demonstrated the “subtle sickness of material success.”
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
