Suits You, Sir

Scooby-Doo's the dog with all the attention right now. But don't tell Frank the Pug that. It really gets his goat.

"Talk to the paw, 'cos the ears don't care," says the smallest star of Men In Black II.

But though Frank may not be the hottest hound in town this summer, director Barry Sonnenfeld can rest assured he's got a hit on his hands.

Years of your life

MIIB broke the $100m mark in the States in just over a week, having had the best 4 July opening weekend ever - better even than Men In Black, which had been the record-holder for five years.

"Every time you direct a movie, especially like MiB or MIIB, where it takes two years of your life, they become your children," Sonnenfeld says.

Sonnenfeld, who has already directed one sequel, Addams Family Values, says it's hard work making No.2 look fresh.

So much energy

"You can only have one original of anything. I don't think people would have wanted to see a MiB that was exactly the same as the first one. That made it really hard. It's part of why it took five years to be here today."

Will Smith had different motives for making MIIB. The original was his three children's favourite their dad had made. "It was time to do another film my kids could go see." Also, coming straight from shooting Ali, the rapper wanted to do something "really familiar, that I could fall into naturally".

But Rosario Dawson, who plays his love interest, reveals that, thanks to months of bench-pressing and boxing, Will tired out cast and crew alike with his antics. "The boy is plugged into a 24-hour socket. He's got so much energy it's ridiculous," she laughs. "He'd just done Ali so he's all about punching things all the time."

One funny guy

Despite the risk of getting hit, Tommy Lee Jones, who plays po-faced Agent K, rarely left his co-star's side. "The key to being funny for me is to stand as close to Will as possible and do everything that Barry tells me," he reveals. "Then a lot of people wind up thinking I'm funny."

Sonnenfeld had to work hard on the first movie to convince Jones the "flatness" of his performance was funny. "I think on the first one he thought I was an idiot who didn't know what I was doing; on this one, he thinks I'm an idiot who knows what he's doing.

"Any great comedy team needs a funny guy and a straight guy. You don't want two funny guys, you don't want Robin Williams and Billy Crystal in the same movie - although they did a movie together..."

Dizzy

While Will has cemented his place as Hollywood's comic with MIIB, he says he's a rapper first and foremost. "The music has to come first for me to continue to act," he reveals. Luckily he's been able to juggle both with MIIB - he also sings its theme tune, Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head).

Frank the pug - or Agent F, as he prefers to be known - is keen to ingratiate himself with his musical co-star. "Will's done it again with this one. I love it! It's just I get so dizzy from nodding my head so much - 'Nod ya head, black suits coming, nod ya head, pug dog's coming,'" he chants.

But the dinky dog - having only starred in two films - is already getting disillusioned with acting, and says he's looking to direct next. Scooby, you've got a lot to answer for...

Check out the trailer above to see a five-minute excerpt of Sky's MIB II special.