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Will Smith credits Tom Cruise with his record-breaking box-office success – because the icon reviews his movie scripts before he takes on a new role.

The stars have become close friends over the years, and Smith admits he turns to Cruise for advice before signing on to a film.

Smith tells Newsweek, “I was so used to competition between other artists that I just didn’t get him at first. And then Tom just broke it down to me and said, ‘Will, we are not competing, so don’t think that way.’ That blew my mind because that is not how this business works at all…

“He looks over my scripts and everything. When I did I Am Legend, I sent him the script, and he sent me back four hours of notes and changes. He did more work on I Am Legend than I did.

“Now we’re looking at some projects to work on together because we have that basic understanding of each other.”

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Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit The Karate Kid, which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment’s James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor’s father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut, The Pursuit of Happyness, which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

The script is being written by Chris Murphy, and the film will shoot next year in Beijing and other cities. While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

The younger Smith, who next stars in The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a martial arts practitioner.

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Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in early discussions to collaborate on a remake of Chan Wook-park’s “Oldboy.” DreamWorks is in the process of securing the remake rights, and the new pic will be distributed by Universal.

In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.

Spielberg had been looking for an opportunity to make a film with Smith, who would play the kidnapped man if all the pieces fall into place. Spielberg is looking for a writer to begin the development process.

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What in the world is Fergie wearing?

Pictured: Will Smith and wife Jada with their children Willow and Jaden, Ben Stiller and wife Christine Taylor, David Schwimmer and girlfriend Zoe Buckman,  Fergie and Toni Braxton, Chris Rock and his daughter, Debi Mazar with husband Gabriele Corcos and thier children Evelyn Giulia.

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I need to read this book!  I have had it for a couple months, but I’m so behind on all my books, I haven’t gotten to it yet!  I keep picking up books that I want to read, and I have so many of them “to read” now, I feel like I’ll never reach the end!  I’m currently reading “Friday Night Knitting Club” (which makes me want to join a knitting club, btw) and next I’m going to read “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”.  I’m DYING to read it. I bought it several months ago, then Oprah picked it as her book – for her book club.  She had the author on the show, and now I’m even more stoked to read it.

Here is the official site for “The Secret Life of Bees”.

Anyway, back to the post at hand.  Here are the celebrities at last night’s premiere of “The Secret Life of Bees”.  Stars include Jada Pinkett Smith (Executive Producer) and Will Smith, Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson (check out the closeup on her ring!) & Nia Long.

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It is official, Warner Bros has greenlit a prequel to I Am Legend. Will Smith has signed on to reprise his role as Robert Neville, and Francis Lawrence has returned as director. Looks like Lawrence won’t be finding time to work on Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor anytime soon. According to Variety, D.B. Weiss (The Game) is writing the script based on a detailed plot outline that was developed over the past few months by Smith, Lawrence, Akiva Goldsman (producer and screenwriter of the original).

The prequel will follow Neville in the last days before and after the man-made virus kills/mutates New York City. A sequel was considered, but obviously wouldn’t have been possible without starting over with a completely new lead character/actor. No word on if author Richard Matheson was consulted about the film. Apocalyptic stories usually sit in one of two categories, pre-Apocalyptic (ie Armageddon, Independence Day) or post-Apocalyptic (I Am Legend, Children of Men), so it will be an interesting change to see a film which might straddle both.

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