{"id":1223,"date":"2025-03-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=1223"},"modified":"2025-03-13T18:21:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T18:21:41","slug":"hitch-director-thought-he-ruined-will-smiths-career-with-iconic-00s-rom-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/11\/hitch-director-thought-he-ruined-will-smiths-career-with-iconic-00s-rom-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitch director thought he \u2018ruined Will Smith\u2019s career\u2019 with iconic 00s rom-com"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hitch was released 20 years ago today in the UK (Picture: Barry Wetcher\/Columbia\/Kobal\/Rex\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Hitch was released 20 years ago, director Andy Tennant was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, after convincing himself that he had \u2018ruined Will Smith<\/a>\u2019s career\u2019, and his own, following a hellish shoot.<\/p>\n

The iconic rom-com hit the big screen<\/a> in the UK on March 11, 2005 – a month after the US premiere – and followed professional \u2018date doctor\u2019 Alex Hitchins (Will), who coaches men and helps them woo women into long-term relationships.<\/p>\n

However, he has his work cut when Albert Brennaman (Kevin James) hires his services to impress celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta).<\/p>\n

He stumbles over his failsafe techniques as he sparks a connection with celebrity journalist Sara Melas (Eva Mendes<\/a>), but their budding romance is threatened when she discovers the truth about his line of work, and his bond to Albert and Allegra.<\/p>\n

The flick was an instant classic, raking in more than $371million at the global box office and becoming the third highest grossing romantic comedy ever, behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding<\/a> and What Women Want.<\/p>\n

The overwhelming success came as a complete surprise to Andy, who branded the entire production a \u2018s**t show\u2019 in a candid chat with Metro<\/strong> to celebrate the anniversary – admitting that he spent a lot of the shoot clashing with his main star<\/a>, and writing key scenes completely on the fly.<\/p>\n

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Will Smith played ‘date doctor’ Alex Hitchins in the 2005 flick (Picture: Barry Wetcher\/Columbia\/Kobal\/Rex\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘It was a rough ride, early in the beginning, because I think everybody was nervous. It was crazy. You don’t know the half of it,\u2019 he told us. \u2018I couldn’t keep the movie straight in my head, which is not a good place to be as a director.<\/p>\n

‘The movie that I wanted to make is not as good, and the movie that Will Smith wanted to make is not as good, as the movie the two of us made by clashing, rewriting, improvising and coming up with stuff every single day.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was [intense], it was a high wire act. I think every day, there was an energy to it that made it scary as hell. \u2026. Things like that, on some level, I can look back at it now and go, “Wow, that was hard.” But the studio was fully supportive.\u2019<\/p>\n

Andy made a name for himself behind the camera after helming Sweet Home Alabama, Fools Rush In and Ever After: A Cinderella Story. He was looking for his next project, when he bumped into a creative executive at Will\u2019s company, who sent him a script for the movie.<\/p>\n

After signing on and assembling his cast, they all got to work, which is precisely when things went completely downhill.<\/p>\n

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