"Hitch" director Andy Tennant has revealed that Will Smith, who plays the lead role, tried to pull out of the film days before shooting was set to begin.
"There was a lot of fear doing a big, expensive romantic comedy with [Smith]," the filmmaker told Business Insider in a new interview. The film "was fraught with peril," he said, adding that Smith "tried to back out three days before we started shooting."
"He wanted to shut down and work on it some more. It was madness," he said.
By the mid-2000s, Smith had already landed major hits with "Men in Black," "Ali," and "Bad Boys" but, at the peak of his career, decided to switch gears and take on a romantic comedy. It was a challenge of sorts, Tennant explained.
"Will did the movie because when we were making it in 2004 the studio said to him that romantic comedies with Black leads don't travel well overseas. That was the reason why Will wanted to do it. He wanted to break that barrier," he said.
"Hitch" earned over $370 million worldwide, including $192 million internationally, on a $70 million budget, according to Entertainment Weekly. But the journey wasn’t without challenges.
"We had our difficulties. The movie I wanted to make and the movie Will wanted to make neither one of those movies is as good as the movie we made together," Tennant said. "It was a battle. [Smith's wife] Jada [Pinkett Smith] was a big help. She kind of seconded some of my instincts. There was a time during prep when I was pushing back. A lot of crazy [expletive] that was happening.
Elsewhere in the interview, Tennant revealed that Smith is working on a sequel — without him.
"I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me," he said. "I just found out about it three months ago. I had a really good idea for a sequel, and I was talking to an executive at Sony, and he said Will's production company is developing a sequel. Hey, that's Hollywood."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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