Why ‘Men in Black III’ Started Shooting Without a Script
A cautionary tale from The Hollywood Reporter:
Hollywood veterans don’t remember anything like it happening on a major movie before: In November, Sony Pictures started filming Men in Black III with only one act of the script set. The studio built in a break in production that was scheduled to last from late December through mid-February, during which the remainder of the screenplay was supposed to be completed.
Now the hiatus has been extended until March 28, and a new writer, David Koepp, who did uncredited work on the first MIB, has been brought on board to work out complex script issues involving time travel. Although the delay is costing millions, Sony says those expenses will be more than offset because the studio started shooting in late 2010 — in time to save millions thanks to New York state tax breaks.
But the decision to start filming a complicated, effects-driven tentpole without a finished script has some in Hollywood baffled. The top executive at one production company expressed skepticism that “the tax break is covering the chaos cost,” adding, “There isn’t any tax break that would convince me to do [what Sony did] — ever!”
The Vulture picks it up from there:
The reason the movie doesn’t have a finished script is because the original draft, written by Tropic Thunder’s Etan Cohen, was signed off on by director Barry Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes — but not Will Smith. And while writers Jeff Nathanson and David Koepp have been brought in to do some punching up, Smith is also taking matters into his own hands. According to THR:
“He’s become very enamored with aspects of screenwriting,” says a source involved with the production. The source believes Smith has earned the right to weigh in on the script, but he says the actor’s process “takes a long time.” (The star’s reps did not respond to a request for comment.)
The “actor’s process”! What’s his process? We’d love to hear more about this. Is he workshopping his version with Martin Lawrence? Is he currently taking Robert McKee’s seminar? Are Willow and Jaden secretly writing Men in Black III?
The movie may well come out and be a huge success. But this may be a case where a studio’s desire to restart the MIB franchise clouded their judgment.