Hitch starred Will Smith as knowledgeable matchmaker & was a field workplace hit, however the director says tensions had been excessive throughout manufacturing.
Hitch celebrates its twentieth anniversary this 12 months, however director Andy Tennant advised Business Insider that it took a whole lot of effort to convey the Will Smith romantic comedy blockbuster to the massive display. Tennant and Smith didn’t at all times agree, and the star even tried to drop out of the film simply three days earlier than taking pictures was slated to start.
“We had our difficulties,” Tennant mentioned. “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. [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 on a lot of crazy shit that was happening.”
He continued, “There was a lot of fear doing a big, expensive romantic comedy with Will. 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. It was madness.” Hitch starred Smith as knowledgeable matchmaker who teaches males how one can woo ladies. Nonetheless, he’s shocked to seek out that his recreation doesn’t work on the thing of his affection. The movie additionally starred Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta.
Tennant and Smith butted heads from the start throughout the improvement of the script. “There was a draft that Will brought in that I was not a fan of,” he defined. “I lastly advised the studio that I used to be extra afraid of Will making that model of the film than I used to be about them firing me. As a result of I knew they had been proper on the sting of firing me earlier than we even started taking pictures. And to Will’s credit score, we didn’t go together with that draft. I don’t assume I used to be ever in anybody’s favor.“
The movie was a huge success, grossing over $370 million worldwide. Though Tennant had concepts for a sequel 20 years in the past, it by no means bought made, however he not too long ago discovered that Smith is engaged on a Hitch sequel with out him. “But I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me,” Tennant mentioned. “I simply discovered about it three months in the past. I had a extremely good concept for a sequel, and I used to be speaking to an government at Sony, and he mentioned Will’s manufacturing firm is growing a sequel. Hey, that’s Hollywood.“
That mentioned, Tennant added that he doesn’t have something towards Smith. “He hired me to make this movie. It was not an easy job for anybody, but we went around the world with the movie,” he mentioned. “Even the onerous occasions he’d at all times say, ‘Wait until the junket. We’re gonna go world wide with this’ — and we did, and it was nice. It was probably the most wonderful journey I had ever been on. And when it was over, my time with Will was over. That was it. And I’ve by no means heard from him since.“
