The sequel has already begun filming, but the star reportedly wants a major change.
Will Smith’s Beef With MIB III
What’s the hold up on Men in Black III? Will Smith doesn’t like the script.
Shooting on the big threequel has been delayed because its lead star wants to see some changes, according to the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter (now on newsstands).
Though the script’s original draft (penned by Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen) found favor with the studio, Sony Pictures, director Barry Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes, Smith wasn't wild. "He's become very enamored with aspects of screenwriting," says a source involved with the production.
Nevertheless, in an unprecedented move, Sony started shooting in November — with only one act of the script completed.
PHOTOS: New Generation of Superheroes
Sony spokesman Steve Elzer tells THR the studio came up with the unusual shooting plan because it feared the New York incentive program would expire at the end of December. (Instead, it was extended for five years.) The studio also has said the hiatus would allow outdoor scenes to be shot in New York in spring.
But several observers suspect the studio moved ahead with production largely because all of the key players -- including Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld -- were finally ready to go, and a delay might have jeopardized that.
It had built in a break in production that was scheduled to last from late December through mid-February, during which the remainder of the script was to be finished.
The problem still hasn’t been resolved – and now the hiatus has been extended until March 28 as a new writer David Koepp (who did uncredited work on the first MIB) is brought in for revisions.
PHOTOS: THR Party Pics
Koepp has hit work cut out for him.
MIB III calls for Smith's character, Agent J, to go back in time - 1969, to be exact – where he encounters famous figures of the day, like Yoko Ono, as well as a younger version of Jones' Agent K (played by Josh Brolin).
The nature of the project has made it difficult to get the screenplay right, a key player on the film tells THR: "Any movie involving time travel seems to be difficult if you want to make it work and have no b-s loopholes, which has taken longer than we thought it would.”
But shooting that first act without the remainder of the script in place has only compounded the issues. "It's hard because you're locked into the beginning of the movie," a production source acknowledges. "It creates problems that are just kind of crazy."
PHOTOS: Hollywood About Town
One former studio chief is not surprised that Sony did not come up with a script that passed muster with Smith in the time allotted. "If he wasn't satisfied after it's been years in development, how are you going to fix that at Christmas?" this person asks.
And though the prolonged pause in production is costing Sony millions, Smith is under no pressure to approve a script that is not 100 percent to his liking. (The sequel was released in 2002 and, despite a drubbing from critics, grossed more than $440 million worldwide.)
According to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation, Sony expected to save more than $35 million thanks to the New York tax program. But that will be reduced because the hiatus has gone on longer than anticipated. (MIB has a budget that will easily pass $200 million.)
PHOTOS: Hollywood’s New Young Guns
Sony maintains that the extra costs are not substantial. "Because we extended the hiatus from the holidays, few people were on the payroll, so this was a relatively inexpensive decision that has had an insignificant impact on the budget," Elzer told THR in an e-mail.
Elzer says Koepp has already delivered a revision of the script.
Assuming Koepp can solve the script issues, and the film makes its March 28 re-start deadline, MIB III will hit theaters in 3-D on May 25, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment