Director Reveals Challenges of Working With Will Smith on ‘Hitch’

Our old favorites are getting sequels – think Ben Affleck’s ‘The Accountant,’ Lindsay Lohan’s ‘Pink Friday’ and Anne Hathaway’s ‘Princess Diaries’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ – so why won’t a Will Smith hit movie make a return as well?

Well, ‘Hitch’ is coming back and with it the memories from the first film, both the good and the bad.

Andy Tennant Calls Working With Will Smith “A Battle”

‘Hitch’ remains one of Will Smith’s most popular movies, having grossed over $370 million worldwide. However, the filming wasn’t as smooth as the final product would have us believe.

Speaking to Business Insider on the rom-com’s 20th anniversary, Tennant revealed that working with Will Smith on the project was an uphill battle. Unfortunately, they had an immediate clash from as early on as the drafts.

“Will tried to back out three days before we started shooting. He wanted to shut down and work on it some more,” Tennant said. “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. It was a battle.”

It wasn’t easy to get Smith to agree to do some of the film’s most notable scenes, including the doorstep scene with him and James and the Ellis Island scene. Though rare, they did agree on certain elements of the film, like the iconic dance scene where Hitch (Smith) teaches Albert (James) how to dance.

David Tennant Praises Will Smith’s Wife For Being A Huge Help On Rom-com

Tennant had the lucky grace of having Jada as an ally, as he battled Smith and his desire to force a different outcome for the movie.

“Jada was a big help. She kind of seconded some of my instincts. There was a time during prep when I was pushing back on a lot of crazy s–t that was happening.”

By the end of the movie, relations between the director and his lead star were yet to improve. “Will walked off the set, didn’t say goodbye to me, didn’t say anything, he just left,” he confessed, adding, “When it was over, my time with Will was over … I have never heard from him since.”

He also recalled Smith thinking the movie would be “a disaster.” Two decades later, Smith is reportedly back on the drawing board to make a sequel for the movie where he played a “date doctor” helping clients navigate the dating world. Eva Mendes and Kevin James also appeared in what would be their breakout roles.

What David Tennant Has To Say About Will Smith Developing A ‘Hitch’ Sequel

David Tennant had just learned that Smith is developing a sequel and feels a bit betrayed, seeing how he’d pitched for its sequel years ago.

“I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me. I just found out about it three months ago,” he said. “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.”

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