Will Smith is back, albeit not with a new movie but one of his classics, Men in Black. As the sci-fi comedy that starred Smith and Tommy Lee Jones celebrates its 25th anniversary, Fathom Events is hosting special screenings in movie theaters across the US on July 3 and July 4.
Men in Black was released on July 2, 1997. In the movie, Earth is crawling with extraterrestrials cleverly disguised to blend in with the clueless human population. A top-secret organization, Men in Black (MiB), is charged with monitoring and controlling alien activity while keeping it all a secret.
World-weary Agent K (Jones) and his enthusiastic young partner, Agent J (Smith), are investigating several mysterious alien deaths with the help of the coolly resourceful Dr. Laura Weaver, deputy medical examiner of New York. On the trail of an intergalactic terrorist with a deadly agenda, K and J face a simple imperative: track down the interloper or the Earth will be destroyed. Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rip Torn and Tony Shaloub co-star.
For a long time, Smith was known as Mr. Fourth of July. Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997), Wild Wild West (1999), Men in Black II (2002) and Hancock (2008) all released in the US around the Fourth of July weekend and all of them ended up being the No. 1 movie at the box office for that weekend.
Smith is at a different point of his career right now. Though he recently won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard, the ceremony was marred by Smith’s slap of Chris Rock following a joke directed at Jada Pinkett Smith. Though he has some movies in development, we’re not sure when exactly we’ll see Smith lead a new movie. So, this catch-up with a Will Smith favorite could be the last time in a while we see the actor on the big screen.
The Fathom special screenings features a new 4K print of Men in Black. In addition, a Q&A with director Barry Sonnenfeld is part of each screening. To find out when and where these Men in Black special screenings are near you, check out Fathomevents.com.
With The Minions the lone new nationwide release and if you’ve already seen Top Gun: Maverick or Elvis, getting the chance to see Men in Black on the big screen could be a fun treat for your Fourth of July.
UK audiences, it does not appear like there are going to be any special screenings of Men in Black on July 3 and July 4, but it is available to stream right now on Sky Go, Now TV and Virgin TV Go.
