Men in Black is the 1997 Sony Pictures Entertainment film that launched what was, for a time, the most successful comic-to-film franchise.
Based on the comics by Lowell Cunningham, the movie follows the premise of a secret agency tasked with policing immigrant aliens, the extraterrestrial kind. After an encounter with a superhuman suspect, detective Jay (Will Smith) follows the clue and uncovers the MiB organization. Given his obvious skills he's inducted as an agent an put under the reluctant wing of senior agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones). Together they have to track down the rogue alien Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio) whose alleged possession of "the galaxy" could incite the destruction of Earth.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld from a script by Ed Solomon, the movie was a major hit. Although Smith was a legit TV star already, Men in Black was the star's second consecutive summer blockbuster that cemented his bankabilty as a major movie star and prompted Smith to dub himself "Mr. 4th of July." The film spawned two direct sequels, a reboot sequel and an animated TV series.
