Hitch director reveals the truth about working with Will Smith: 'It was a battle'

Hitch director Andy Tennant revealed what it was like working with movie star Will Smith in the 2005 romantic comedy.

Will played Alex "Hitch" Hitchens in the film, opposite love interest Sara Melas, played by Eva Mendes.

Andy called their time on the project a 'battle,' and said he hasn't spoken to the star since the movie promotional tour wrapped, he told Business Insider.

'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,' Andy told the outlet.

While Andy says he doesn't have 'anything against Will,' they never spoke again: 'And when it was over [the press junket for the movie], my time with Will was over. That was it. And I never heard from him since.' 

Hitch became a worldwide hit, earning over $370 million at the box office, the outlet reported. 

The director also revealed that Will is developing a Hitch sequel - but opted not to recruit him to direct the second installment.

Despite Andy saying he had an idea for the sequel, the actor is making the sequel through his production company.

'I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me,' the told BI.

'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,' he added. 

He revealed that while creating Hitch, Will'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. A lot of crazy s**t that was happening,' he said.

The pushback from Will was happened just three days before filming was set to start, with the actor wanting to delaying filming in order to work on the script more. 

'He wanted to work on it some more,' but then he wanted to 'back out.' 

Andy noted that the 'crazy s**t' he was referring to was a draft that Will brought in that he didn't like.

'I finally told the studio that I was more afraid of Will making that version of the movie than I was about them firing me. Because I knew they were right on the edge of firing me before we even began shooting,' he said to BI.

'And to Will's credit, we didn't go with that draft. I don't think I was ever in anyone's favor,' he said. 

He recalled some of the battles, which included Will wanting to include 'cheap jokes.'

'I didn't want cheap jokes, but he didn't trust me,' he said.

He said he felt defeated after one of the scenes was written 'on the spot' after Will asked it to be tweaked last minute request. 

He said filming was a 'wild ride.' 

After they finished filming, he said thought he ruined his career and Will's.

'I sweat to God, when we wrapped that movie, I called my wife and said, "I've just ruined my career and I've ruined Will Smith's career,' he said to BI.

He recalled that when the filming ended 'Will walked off the set, didn't say goodbye to me, didn't say anything, he just left. I think he felt the same way I did. He thought this movie is a disaster. We wrapped and it was depressing.'