Filming of Men In Black III stopped while Will Smith waits to approve final script

(HMG Celebrity News) – This isn’t the first time I have heard rumors of Will Smith delaying a production by inserting his input and requesting changes to the script.  I guess it’s the nature of the business that as actors become huge stars they form production companies and want total say on scripts.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, though Sony Pictures rushed (without an approved final script) to start production on Men In Black 3, by the end of 2010 to capitalize on New York City tax breaks and shave millions off the budget.  A hiatus was built into the filming schedule to allow director Barry Sonnenfeld time to complete the rest of the story – which involves a time-traveling Agent K (Will Smith) going back to 1969 and meeting a younger version (Josh Brolin) of his partner K (Tommy Lee Jones) – and resume shooting in the middle of February.  Sonnenfeld, Smith and Jones agreed to reunite based on a script from “Tropic Thunder” writer Etan Cohen. However, Sony has been forced to extend the hiatus to March 28 as Smith has yet to approve a completed script rewrite from David Koepp, who did uncredited work on the first “MiB” in 1997, and has been brought in to work out complex script issues involving time travel.  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.)

Between the demands for script changes and already having shot the beginning of the movie, a key player on the film explained that the nature of the project has made it difficult to get the screenplay right. “Any movie involving time travel seems to be difficult if you want to make it work and have no bull–t loopholes, which has taken longer than we thought it would,” he said. And since the beginning of the film has already been shot they are even more so painted into a corner on what script changes can be made.  Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes, who allegedly had a frosty relationship on the first two Men In Black outings, have supposedly rekindled their feud over the production delays.  A knowledgeable source said Koepp signed on to the latest rewrite with the provision that he not be required to meet with or speak to Parkes, who has a reputation for for heavy-handedness with writers and directors.  Even though perhaps up to two-thirds of the film is still up in the air,  Men in Black 3 is supposed to be opening on May 25th 2012.