One of the world’s famous Hollywood movie superstar and rapper Will Smith flies into Papua New Guinea this afternoon to promote the country through his new TV show “Welcome to Earth”.
Will and his team of 60 have been the first recipients of PNG’s newly announced Entertainment visa approved by the Government through Immigration recently.
The actor and his crew of six will be part of a National Geographic documentary featuring Tavuvur, East New Britain, and then onto Tens Island in the St Matthias group of islands in New Ireland province.
Smith and his team jet in this afternoon in their Starlight Falcon jet to Port Moresby for immigration and customs checks before heading straight to Kavieng, New Ireland province, where they will spend a month filming the remote and uncharted locations in that part of the country.
Willard Carroll Smith II, as officially known, has 60 technical and official team members with him, part of which had already arrived in PNG last weekend as advance teams.
He is an American actor, rapper and film producer who has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and four Grammy Awards. As of 2023, his films have grossed over $9.3 billion globally, making him one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
PNG authorities have confirmed his arrival today with six officials enroute from Sydney through to Port Moresby and Kavieng, New Ireland where he will be doing his film.
Map showing Will Smith’s travel route.
Smith was in Vanuatu where he was host to a US television documentary series –”Our Strange Rock”- which explored the fragility and wonder of the planet Earth.
The 10-part series began screening its first season with executive producers of the National Geographic singling out that the 81 million people worldwide have watched it, making it the channel’s fourth most watched series globally.
Will Smith’s new show, “Welcome to Earth” is a short TV Series consisting of 6 episodes and is aired on Disney+ in collaboration with National Geographic.
Welcome to Earth synopsis, according to IMDB, Actor Will Smith sets out to offer an insight into some of the world’s most remote and uncharted locations.
Will Smith sets out to discover the most remote and uncharted locations in this TV series which is filled with suspense and brings the viewers a new look to Planet Earth.
Season 1 premiered in December 2021. The series stars Will Smith, Diva Amon, Dwayne Fields, Eric Weihenmayer, Cory Richards, and George Steinmetz.
Will Smith stars and serves as an executive producer on this TV show. Will Smith’s Entertainment company Westbrook is also engaged in this series, apart from Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures.
They had been preparing for this trip for the last three months according to the logistics team in Kavieng, New Ireland.
“Any official release will be made by the Nutopia team or specially by Smith and his media team so for now all things under wraps until we are allowed to make statements,” the officials said.
“They are the first ones to have used the Entertainment Visa, and because they had instruments of approval from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Film Institute, and other authorities, we approved their visas.
“We have approved 60 of them, six of them arriving tomorrow (today) but the technical teams arrived last weekend, I thing Saturday or Sunday and are already in New Ireland where they will be doing the film shooting.
“According to our records, they were in Vanuatu shooting a series there and yes, they are coming in from Australia where they will be processed here in Port Moresby and then onto their prescribed destination,” the authorities told the Post-Courier.