Seven Pounds movie: Too gloomy for the times?

Are audiences going to be receptive to Will Smith in a dark drama this Christmas?

So it has been almost a month since the release of the first trailer for the Will Smith movie Seven Pounds, and I have to say that there hasn't really been much in the way of any noticable buzz from it. If you haven't yet seen it make an effort to do so just so that my next comments are more relevant to you, lol. Now I don't agree with anyone who is already trying to say that the movie will be too dark and gloomy and meandering but I am wondering how this film will go over with the Christmas moviegoing crowd especially considering the recent state of the economy: during the craziness of the Christmas Season, people want to escape from all of that and be entertained when they go to the movies, right? Well with the economy getting many of us down, are we really going to be in the mood for a dark drama about a suicidal and guilt ridden man? Or are the crowds going to look towards something more cheerful and upbeat, thining that they will just catch the Seven Pounds movie when it comes to DVD?

To be honest, it is pretty much impossible for the studio to do anything about this at this point; the movie was scheduled months in advance and it is far too late to pull the film from the studio's release schedule without causing some seriously bad buzz for it. The economy wasn't in the tank when this film's release date was scheduled. Who knew that a few peole might be feeling pretty bleak by the time this film came out?

On a side note, is it just me or does it seem that recently, Will Smith has been making an effort to alternate his projects: that we are getting a serious film then a more 'popcorn' kind of film from Mr. Smith? Hitch followed by The Pursuit of Happyness followed by I Am Legend followed by Hancock -okay my theory falters here, but he sort of continues the trend after by following up with Seven Pounds and then his reported next project, The Last Pharaoh (which I am still unsure about as to whether it would be in the serious catagory or popcorn category). Hey this is just idle speculation on my part but I just thought I would throw it out there. BTW, did you know that smith was recently approached for the role of Captain america and declined? Now that would have been interesting...