It was another Big Willie Weekend as Will Smith’s action superhero movie “Hancock” took in an impressive $66 million dollars over the American holiday weekend. Sony Pictures had opened the $170 million budgeted event movie on Wednesday but also held Tuesday evening showings to beef up their ticket sales. That plan of attack worked well and the combined five day tally for “Hancock” elevated its total gross to $107 million. “Hancock” is the second-highest movie to open for Smith after last December’s “I Am Legend”.

The “Ali” and “Men in Black” star plays an alcoholic, homeless superhero in “Hancock” who doesn’t give a care as to how his image is looked upon by the public. Audiences may have gone out to take in Will’s new movie but critics haven’t been as favorable to the picture with negative reviews popping up in “Entertainment Weekly”, “The Washington Post”, “Newsweek”, “The Wall Street Journal” and more outlets. “’Hancock’ is a hodgepodge of intriguing ideas that, if developed further or presented as more than throw-ins to a confused production, might have made for a unique superhero film,” wrote James Berardinelli in his review of the movie.

Will Smith seems to have stuck his foot in his mouth after making comments about one of the most evil men in history. The star of “I Am Legend” was giving an interview to “The Daily Record” when he said the following statement: “Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘let me do the most evil thing I can do today’. I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good’.”

Smith’s controversial comment drew the ire of the Jewish Defense League who called the actor’s statements “ignorant, detestable and offensive” and immediately began calling movie theaters asking the owners to pull his latest blockbuster. Smith quickly tried to counter the attack by issuing a strongly worded retraction that said that the original newspaper had run a “ludicrous misinterpretation” of what he actually said. “Adolf Hitler was a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet,” said the “Men in Black” and “Independence Day” star.

“We welcome and accept Will Smith’s statement that Hitler was a ‘vicious killer’ and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise,” said Anti-Defamation League’s president Abraham H. Foxman shortly after Smith’s counter-claim had been isued. “Once Smith realized that his remarks may have been misunderstood, he took immediate steps to clarify his words and unequivocally condemn Hitler as an evil person. We would have expected no less from a celebrity of his standing in the strata of Hollywood stardom.”