Will Smith is moving forward with a sequel to his 2005 romantic comedy Hitch, but according to the film’s director, Andy Tennant, he’s not involved in the project.
Tennant, who helmed the original film starring Will Smith as professional dating consultant Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, recently told Business Insider that he only learned about the sequel a few months ago—and that he wasn’t invited to take part.
“I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me,” Tennant 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 his absence from the project, Tennant insists there are no hard feelings toward the Independence Day star, even though the two haven’t spoken since promoting the movie nearly two decades ago.
“And when it was over, my time with Will was over. That was it. And I have never heard from him since,” he said.
Andy Tennant also reflected on the challenges of making the original film, revealing that Smith nearly walked away from the project just days before filming was set to begin.
“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,” Tennant recalled.
The director described the production process as fraught with creative disagreements, with Will Smith pushing for story elements Tennant wasn’t on board with.
“We had our difficulties,” Tennant admitted. “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 s### that was happening.”
While details about the Hitch sequel remain scarce, Smith’s involvement as a driving force behind the project suggests he has a new vision for the beloved rom-com.