The director of Will Smith’s 2005 hit Hitch has revealed the actor tried to back out of the film three days before production was due to begin.
The romantic comedy saw the star play a dating expert who helped men attract the women of their dreams, only for him to experience issues in his own romantic life. The film was a box office hit, making $371.6million and continuing Smith’s status as a Hollywood draw during the decade.
However, to celebrate the movie’s 20th anniversary, director Andy Tennant spoke to Business Insider about some of the struggles during production.
“We had our difficulties,” he said of himself and Smith. “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. It was a battle.”
Tennant recalled receiving an unlikely ally in the form of the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. “Jada was a big help” he said. “She kind of seconded some of my instincts. There was a time during prep when I was pushing back on a lot of crazy shit that was happening.”
This included what Tennant called “crazy story ideas”, saying: “There was a draft that Will brought in that I was not a fan of. I finally told the studio that I was more afraid of Will making that version of the movie than I was about them firing me… to Will’s credit, we didn’t go with that draft. I don’t think I was ever in anyone’s favour.”
The idea of Smith, best known as an action star, becoming a romantic lead was also met with trepidation. “There was a lot of fear doing a big, expensive romantic comedy with Will,” he continued. “It was fraught with peril. Will tried to back out three days before we started shooting. He wanted to shut down and work on it some more.”
Additionally, Tennant revealed that a sequel was in development – but not with his input. “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.”
Despite clashes on set, the filmmaker didn’t hold any grudges. “I don’t have anything against Will,” he explained. “He hired me to make this movie. It was not an easy job for anybody, but we went around the world with the movie.
“Even the hard times he’d always say, ‘Wait until the junket. We’re gonna go around the world with this’ — and we did, and it was great. It was the most amazing trip I had ever been on.”
However, the pair haven’t spoken since completing the promotion for the movie. “When it was over, my time with Will was over,” he said. “That was it. And I have never heard from him since.”
Recently, Smith made his first appearance at an awards show since his infamous incident at the 2022 Oscars when he slapped host Chris Rock. His arrival at this year’s Grammys was not well received by fans online.