MOVIE RELEASE Will Smith sticks to summer

The actor continues to find success with vacationing summertime audiences.
By JOE NEUMAIER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Summertime is synonymous with Will Smith. Starting with "Independence Day" in 1996, the 35-year-old actor has starred in a bunch of big-budget action-adventure films released in prime blockbuster slots in early July. His latest, "I, Robot," opens Friday.
While there's more to Smith than his solar-powered smile and thermonuclear charm, he knows what season works best for his brand of star power.
"There's a connection I have with summer audiences -- I know what this time of year means at the movies, I know what people are doing with their families, and I know what they need to start off their vacations," says Smith. "It's been July 4 for a lot of years -- that's Big Willie Weekend! People feel they're in good hands. I know what they want."
He isn't about to upset the apple cart. Though Smith was Oscar-nominated for his performance as Muhammad Ali in 2001's "Ali," and has given good performances in such serious movies as "Six Degrees of Separation" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance," if he harbors unsatisfied creative yearnings, he's keeping them to himself. Sequels like "Men in Black II" and "Bad Boys II" further suggest Hollywood doesn't want the star to stray far from his successful formula.
His inner youngster
Smith says only the physical strain of action films may force him to give up the genre by the time he hits his 40s. Rather than feeling limited, he says he's adding subtext to his blockbusters.
"As I get older, it's going to be a necessity to have ideas in these films -- you can only save the world so many times before people start saying 'All right buddy, we got it,'" he says. "Audiences are going to reject action movies where you just blow stuff up and a guy looks cool. These films need to be intellectually stimulating.
"After 'Ali,' I went back to (action films), back to that comfort. Some people, once they get an Oscar nomination, they get the bug to only do serious films. For me, I know I'll have time for that, so I didn't want to lose my connection to the youngster in me.
"I feel confident at this point that I can pretty much do what I want. I've found a comfortable creative freedom. It's my decision which side of myself to show."
New film
"I, Robot," based loosely on Isaac Asimov's 1950 short-story collection, reflects Smith's desire to make an adventure that takes place in a murkier moral universe. He plays a Chicago detective in 2035, who investigates a robot accused of murder. Like "Blade Runner" and "Minority Report," the film touches on the idea of whether it's emotion, intelligence or violence that makes humans unique.
Currently filming the romantic comedy "The Last First Kiss," co-starring Eva Mendes, around New York, Smith will be heard but not seen in the animated "Shark Tale," due this fall.
"That's one my younger kids can see," he says, referring to his children with actress Jada Pinkett, son Jaden, 6, and daughter Willow, 4. He also is working on a new album.