Will Smith has been a leading man in Hollywood for almost 30 years now, and the actor is not slowing down in coming up with new projects. The actor has starred in highly successful franchises like Men in Black, and Bad Boys. He has also been part of many acclaimed films in his career and won an Oscar for his role in 2021’s King Richard.
In addition to films, Smith also ventured into the world of gaming last year, endorsing the survival zombie apocalypse game Undawn, where he plays the lead character. The game was launched last year, and unfortunately, it has turned out to be a huge disaster.
Relatively Unknown Will Smith Game Undawn Reportedly Flopped Big Time
Last year in May, Will Smith endorsed Tencent’s zombie apocalypse game Undawn. Although a trailer was released, the awareness of the game was non-existent to fans and gamers. Now, a new report has revealed that the game has flopped spectacularly despite a big Hollywood star like Smith playing the lead character of the game.
Reuters revealed that Tencent’s key in-house game bombed very badly despite having a budget of about 1 billion yuan (around $140 million). Fans on X were not surprised by the news because the developers barely did anything to promote it, and people were unaware that it even existed. Here are some of the reactions,
You mean the game literally no one knew existed until this tweet
— Kudos 💜 (@KudosOnYT) March 21, 2024
It bombed because no one knew about this game. Idk Will was in a zombie game smh. Pour marketing, not Wills fault
— Cityboi Ju (@cityboiju) March 21, 2024
I literally didn't even know this was a thing til this tweet 😅 How are people supposed to buy something if they don't know about it aka market it and advertise it
— Jen 🏳️🌈🍉 (@nerodsi) March 21, 2024
that's weird, would have expected it to slap
— esports (@esports) March 21, 2024
There was zero advertising for this game.
— USW444 (@UniversalSWave) March 21, 2024
As the fans said, the failure is not surprising as the game was not given the required push by the studio to spread more awareness. On the flip side, the failure of the game barely affected Smith’s reputation or star power. The actor is already coming up with some interesting film projects down the line.
Will Smith Admits Going Too Far for His Role in Emancipation
Will Smith starred in the period thriller Emancipation in 2022, directed by Antoine Fuqua. In the film, he played a slave named Peter, who flees a plantation in 1860s Louisiana and is forced to survive and fight against his captors in his journey to freedom. Smith went full-on method for the role and admitted to Kevin Heart on his show Hart to Heart, that he went too far in trying to get into the skin of the character.
Smith revealed that he wanted to feel the level of degradation and suffering that his character was facing. He put on real chains around his neck, and in one instance, the lock got jammed, and the prop master couldn’t get the chains off of him. He claimed that making the film was one of the greatest experiences of his career. He said,
“I went too far in Emancipation, Just bringing it up, I start to get teary. I wanted to feel the degradation of slavery, and I went too far in. That level of human brutality… I had the chains on my neck and we were working. I wanted the real weight of them.
I wanted real chains. They put it on my neck and they were fitting it for size and the prop master went to put the key in and it didn’t work. I wouldn’t give it back. It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had as an actor.”
The actor put in one of the best performances of his career in the film and was praised by critics and fans. As of 2024, he and Martin Lawrence are set to return for the fourth Bad Boys film, set to be released in theaters on June 7, 2024. He will also star in the sequel to I Am Legend alongside Michael B. Jordan.
