Industry insiders worry that rumors of Will Smith's ties to Scientology will hurt his box-office draw

Will Smith is the world's biggest movie star and king of the July Fourth weekend. Hancock defied the critics to open at just under $104 million, which is a tribute to Smith considering the awful reviews. Still, box-office trackers at rival studios say squeaking past $100 million wasn't quite what Sony Pictures had in mind. "It's a big disappointment. I don't care how you spin it," says one.

The movie has held on pretty well since its opening, but it's running into the Dark Knight this weekend and that should hit it hard. It will get past $200 million, but that's not exactly Iron Man or Indiana Jones money (both cruised past $300 million domestically). Hancock will likely only be Smith's fourth-highest grosser. Still, he remains not only the world's biggest star, but also one of the last giant stars, period. He can do anything: comedy, action, romance, drama. He's huge overseas. And he's still got a reputation for being a good guy to work with.

But some in Hollywood are watching to see whether Smith's foot is edging toward a banana peel. A series of media stories in the Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere has linked Smith to Scientology, and industry veterans are wondering how the relationship will play out.

Smith told Access Hollywood in December that he was introduced to Scientology by his friend Tom Cruise, and that he is "a student of world religion." He also added that "the ideas of the Bible are 98 percent the same ideas of Scientology, 98 percent the same ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism." In a similar vein, he told Men's Vogue: "The Bible talks about your spirit being immortal, that you were created for existence beyond your physical body. Well, that's no different from Scientology! I don't think that because the word someone uses for spirit is thetan that the definition becomes any different."

The drumbeat on Smith's ties to Scientology has gotten louder lately. In January, the New York Daily News reported that Smith gave Hancock crew members cards offering a free Scientology personality test. His publicist denies that. But there also have been a number of reports of links between Scientology and the New Village Academy, a school that Smith and his wife will open in the fall.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the school started about three years ago as a home school for the Smiths' young children and the children of some other families. The school's administrator said the school is secular, but some staff members are Scientologists, and the school uses "study technology" developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. (That approach focuses on students gaining hands-on experience, mastering subject matter before moving to the next level, and not reading past words they don't understand—most of which sounds more logical than techy, but what do we know?) The Times also quotes Scientology critic David S. Touretzky, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, as saying that the school's website is peppered with Scientology terms.

Scientology considers those who have left their church to be apostates. We turned to one such person to inquire about Smith's relationship with the church. Marc Headley was in Scientology for 15 years and was a member of the Sea Org, the church's upper-level staff. (Sea Org members commit to serve for a billion years; they are not permitted to have children.) Before Headley left in 2005, he spent most of his time working at Scientology's "Gold Base" facility, a 500-acre resort near the high desert town of Hemet, about 90 miles from Los Angeles. Celebrities often sojourn there.

Headley never heard of Smith spending any time there. But he says that a few years ago, he learned from the church leadership that Scientology would try to build its black membership because it felt African Americans were trendsetters for the broader culture. Headley says he was also told that Smith was drawn to the church's study technology, hoping to improve the academic performance of his oldest child from a previous marriage. (That child, Trey, now attends Oaks Christian High, a school that recently received its own share of attention from the Los Angeles Times because of its formidable football team and a student body that includes the sons of former sports stars Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky.)

According to Headley, offering to address nagging concerns—whether about a child, weight gain, or anything else—is "a classic road map" for getting new members involved with the church. Smith's publicist says she was unaware whether concerns about his son's academics had anything to do with his interest—but not membership—in Scientology.

Headley says he believes Smith when he says that he's not a Scientologist. "I'm sure he is trying not to get in, but [the Smiths] are doing all the stuff that people do when they get in," he says. Headley also scoffs at the idea that the New Village Academy has no ties to Scientology. If the Hubbard technology is being used, he says, fees normally must be paid, and those flow back to the church.

We called the school to ask whether fees are being paid in this case. A response came via Smith's publicist, who says that no fees are being paid for use of the study tech. But Headley maintains that uses of the technology are considered "intro routes" in Scientology.

A director who has worked with Smith told us he's baffled by the star's ambiguous relationship with Scientology. A prominent producer said that, while he doesn't think Smith's public will lose any affection for him even if they don't much care for Hancock, he considers Scientology to be a bit more "radioactive."

"How much it can actually dent him, who knows?" he says. "There's no question that people really hate proselytizing." Smith has always been "impeccable" in his behavior, he says, adding, "Until this, he's like the least self-destructive person in the movie business. I'm really curious to see if there will be another crack."