Seeing a Will Smith movie over the Fourth of July weekend has almost become a family tradition. Independence Day, Wild, Wild West and both Men in Black films were released over the same summer stretch. This year, Sony is hoping that holiday custom holds, launching Smith's Hancock in 3,965 theaters starting on Wednesday.
 
As a matter of fact, Independence Day and the Men in Black films are all among the top ten grossing Fourth of July weekend films ever released. It would be no surprise if Hancock joined them. Even tough his character, a dirty, drunken, anti-hero with super powers, is not exactly the stereotypical idol that people want to cozy-up to, Smith's international star power is undisputed — his films have earned more than $3 billion worldwide. What's more, his only major competition comes from WALL-E, a Pixar animated film that opened last week. 
 
Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl, the Depression-set Abigail Breslin vehicle based on the popular American Girl doll series, opens in more theaters this weekend, expanding to 1,836. It had previously been showing only in markets where American Girl doll stores were located, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. It's expected to do well for its genre, but doesn't have the broad appeal or theater numbers of a film like Hancock.
 
On the indie front, two interesting films with decent star power will be opening in a handful of theaters. On Thursday, The Wackness makes its debut, starring Sir Ben Kingsley as a psychiatrist facing emotional dilemmas of his own and Josh Peck as his pot-peddling patient.

Then on Friday, a sweet, low-key family comedy, Diminished Capacity, opens. It stars Matthew Broderick, Virginia Madsen and Alan Alda. The plot involves a charming amalgamation of fish that type, an extremely valuable baseball card and a homecoming. Although it's a wee bit on the dark side, the film is a charming, captivating surprise. It's only opening in four theaters this week, but here's hoping great buzz will boost it to a wider release, so that the country doesn't have to wait to see it on DVD.