Earlier than Wild Wild West flopped its manner into popular culture infamy, Will Smith was using a red-hot streak. However one scene in that 1999 catastrophe left even the director shaking his head. Barry Sonnenfeld, who had simply directed Smith within the blockbuster Males in Black, later admitted the second “made no sense” and may’ve dragged the entire movie down with it.
It wasn’t speculated to go that manner. Within the mid-’90s, Smith had been leveling up quick. He scored back-to-back hits from The Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air to Dangerous Boys and Independence Day. Then got here Males in Black in 1997. It dropped on July 4th weekend and cemented Smith because the summer season field workplace king. So when Sonnenfeld pitched Wild Wild West, one other summer season spectacle with devices, comedy, and motion, it gave the impression of one other win.
However Wild Wild West missed… badly. Will Smith performed Jim West, a cowboy Secret Service agent chasing down Kenneth Branagh’s steampunk villain, Loveless. Kevin Kline got here in as his companion. And the vibe? Suppose sci-fi spaghetti western meets Looney Tunes. It had a large mechanical spider. Sufficient stated.
What actually killed it, although, was one scene Sonnenfeld couldn’t overlook. Late within the film, Smith’s character disguises himself as a stomach dancer to sneak into Loveless’ lair. Yep, full drag. Cue the bizarre dance, a cringy try at humor, and a plot detour that derailed the tone utterly. In accordance with Sonnenfeld, producer Jon Peters pushed for it and wouldn’t again down.
“I by no means needed to see Will in drag,” Sonnenfeld instructed Mel Journal. “I assumed it was prurient, pointless, foolish, and in there solely as a result of [producer Jon] Peters cherished it and refused to allow us to take it out. We actually lose the viewers from there until the top of the film due to the stupidity of that bizarre harem dance.”
And identical to that, the wheels got here off. The scene landed deep within the third act, however the fallout lingered. Followers have been already skeptical. Critics piled on. And what ought to’ve been one other July 4th banger fizzled right into a punchline. Will Smith later known as Wild Wild West one among his largest profession regrets, and contemplating he handed on The Matrix to make it, that stung much more.
Nonetheless, the flop didn’t break him. Smith bounced again with Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, and I Am Legend. He even scored a number of Oscar noms and finally received for King Richard. However regardless of how excessive he climbed, Wild Wild West remained that one film that haunted the résumé. And that one scene? Properly, Sonnenfeld didn’t sugarcoat it. It “made no sense.” Audiences agreed. Typically, one dance is all it takes to interrupt the spell.
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