History Trivia / WildWildWest

** Creator/WillSmith himself has since acknowledged how awful the movie was, especially considering he turned down the role of Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' to make this instead (though he's admitted that the latter, at least, wasn't a mistake, as he doesn't believe he could have made ''Matrix'' justice). He's been a ''little'' nicer to this film, however, in the wake of bigger disappointments like ''Film/AfterEarth'' (which came out the same year as ''Film/TheLoneRanger'', which killed the superfluous Western a second time), and it helps that his son Jaden didn't mind the film either. (Even on Smith's 1999 album ''Willennium'', when his father asked him which song to put on the CD next. Creator/JadenSmith, a toddler at the time, requested the film's theme song).

* OldShame:
** Creator/WillSmith has since acknowledged how awful the movie was, especially considering he turned down the role of Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' to make this instead (though he's admitted that the latter, at least, wasn't a mistake, as he doesn't believe he could have made ''Matrix'' justice). He's been a ''little'' nicer to this film, however, in the wake of bigger disappointments like ''Film/AfterEarth'' (which came out the same year as ''Film/TheLoneRanger'', which killed the superfluous Western a second time), and it helps that his son Jaden didn't mind the film either. (Even on Smith's 1999 album ''Willennium'', when his father asked him which song to put on the CD next. Creator/JadenSmith, a toddler at the time, requested the film's theme song).
** Creator/BarrySonnenfeld, Creator/KevinKline, Creator/SalmaHayek, and in fact half the staff at Warner Bros. feel the same way. Hayek in particular thought she was being underused, while Kline considered himself too good of an actor for the finished product.

* GenreKiller: This helped put Science Fiction/Fantasy style Westerns in a box for the 2000's, and attempts to try this genre again with ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' and ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' have sent it back to that box.
** Arguably, TheWestern in ''general'': The genre had enjoyed a brief Renaissance beginning with ''Film/{{Silverado}}'' and ''Film/YoungGuns'' which lasted through TheNineties with such classics as ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', and ''Film/{{Tombstone}}''. Ever since this film, Westerns have been few and far between, and only through standalone hits like ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', ''Film/TheHatefulEight'', the remake of ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'' and even ''Film/{{Logan}}'' has there been much attempt at bringing it back on any significant scale.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/RobertConrad, who played Jim West on [[Series/TheWildWildWest the original TV series]], was very vocal in his dislike of the movie, even going as far as personally accepting the [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzies]] it "won". His dislike started when they asked him to do a RemakeCameo as President Grant; upon reading the script, he described it as an insult to the late actors Creator/RossMartin (Artemus Gordon) and Creator/MichaelDunn (Dr. Miguelito Loveless). You'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of the show who disagrees.

* BoxOfficeBomb: In the U.S. Budget, $170 million. Box office, $113,804,681 (domestic), $222,104,681 (worldwide).

* ActingForTwo: Creator/KevinKline as both Gordon and President Grant, including instances of TalkingToHimself. Then there's the scenes where Gordon impersonates Grant and [[MindScrew this gets really weird]].

** It was a bigger killer for Jon Peters. He was one of the most well known and actively working producers of the 70's-90's but the failure of the film and reports that he had meddled too much in its making practically killed any goodwill he had in Hollywood; after this movie's failure, he's only produced 4 movies in the span of 20 years- ''Film/{{Ali}}'', ''Film/SupermanReturns'' (which also helped kill his career off), ''Film/ManOfSteel'', and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/RobertConrad, who played Jim West on [[Series/TheWildWildWest the original TV series]], was very vocal in his dislike of the movie, even going as far as personally accepting the [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzies]] it "won". His dislike started when they asked him to do a RemakeCameo as President Grant; upon reading the script, he described it as an insult to Ross Martin (Artemus Gordon) and Michael Dunn (Dr. Miguelito Loveless). You'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of the show who disagrees.

** Music/HansZimmer was courted to score for the film by Sonnenfeld, he was talked out of it in the belief that [[Music/ElmerBernstein someone]] with more Western experience would be better suited. So Zimmer ''didn't'' wind up doing a disastrously received Wes[[Film/TheLoneRanger2013 ...oh wait]].

** Music/HansZimmer was courted to score for the film by Sonnenfeld, he was talked out of it in the belief that [[Music/ElmerBernstein someone]] with more Western experience would be better suited. So Zimmer ''didn't'' wind up doing a disastrously received Wees[[Film/TheLoneRanger2013 ...oh wait]].

** Creator/WillSmith has since acknowledged how awful the movie was, especially considering he turned down the role of Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' to make this instead (though he's admitted that ''that'' part, at least, wasn't a mistake). He's been a ''little'' nicer to this film, however, in the wake of bigger disappointments like ''Film/AfterEarth'' (which came out the same year as ''Film/TheLoneRanger'', which killed the superfluous Western a second time). It helps that his son Jaden didn't mind the film either. (Even on Smith's 1999 album ''Willennium'', when his father asked him which song to put on the CD next. Creator/JadenSmith, a toddler at the time, requested the film's theme song).

* TheOtherMarty: Belle was originally cast with, and filmed with British actress Phina Oruche. Reportedly, the chemistry needed for the bathtub love scene wasn't there. The scene was re-cast and re-shot with Garcelle Beauvais. However, Oruche was not told, and found out she was no longer in the movie at the premiere in Los Angeles.

--->I never wanted to see Will in drag. I thought it was prurient, unnecessary, silly and in there only because Peters loved it and refused to let us take it out. [[EightDeadlyWords We really lose the audience from there till the end of the movie because of the stupidity of that weird harem dance]]. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone I cringe every time I think about it]]. Until the dance, it's a good scene. Loveless is scary, and the audience believes that he's going to take over America. But then it's like, "Oh wait a minute, I'm gonna forget all that because there's a harem girl who I didn't invite — [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere I’ve no idea how she got here]] — but boy she's sexy, and who wants to take over America when there's a girl in a green harem outfit next to me?" [[PunctuatedForEmphasis It. Made. No. Sense.]]

* ImageSource: For HalfTheManHeUsedToBe.

** It was a bigger killer for Jon Peters. He was one of the most well known and actively working producers of the 70's-90's but the failure of the film and reports that he had meddled too much in its making practically killed any goodwill he had in Hollywood; after this movie's failure, he's only produced 4 movies in the span of 20 years-''Film/{{Ali}}'', ''Film/SupermanReturns'' (which also helped kill his career off), ''Film/ManOfSteel'', and ''Film/AStarIsBorn''.

* DirectedByCastMember: In the Italian dub, Cesare Barbetti was the ADR director, as well as the voice of Artemus Gordon and President Grant.

** Barry Sonnenfeld had a ''lot'' of problems with Jon Peters' ExecutiveMeddling, but he particularly had a problem with the scene where Will Smith dresses up as a harem dancer to distract Loveless. He said if he had more clout at the time, he'd have walked from the film at that point.
---> “I never wanted to see Will in drag. I thought it was prurient, unnecessary, silly and in there only because Peters loved it and refused to let us take it out. [[EightDeadlyWords We really lose the audience from there till the end of the movie because of the stupidity of that weird harem dance]]. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone I cringe every time I think about it]]. Until the dance, it’s a good scene. Loveless is scary, and the audience believes that he’s going to take over America. But then it’s like, ‘Oh wait a minute, I’m gonna forget all that because there’s a harem girl who I didn’t invite — [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere I’ve no idea how she got here]] — but boy she’s sexy, and who wants to take over America when there’s a girl in a green harem outfit next to me?’ [[PunctuatedForEmphasis It. Made. No. Sense.]]”
** Despite enjoying his work on the film, Creator/TedLevine admitted that the film's storyline was all over the place due to the constant changes of the script and attributed this along with Will Smith's casting to the film's failure.

* CreatorKiller: Was this for Sonnenfeld as a film director, as he hasn’t had more success in said capacity besides the ''Franchise/MenInBlack'' series. Today, he’s only mostly active in TV.

* DevelopmentHell: The film was pitched as far back as 1992 as a straight-laced film adaptation of the series, to be directed by Creator/RichardDonner (who had directed several episodes of the series) and with Creator/MelGibson slated to play Jim West and a script by Creator/ShaneBlack. The duo ended up making ''Film/{{Maverick}}'' instead. Creator/TomCruise was then attached to the project before he decided to revamp ''Film/MissionImpossible'' in its place; only then was the project overhauled into the comedic Will Smith vehicle you see today.

** Creator/WillSmith has since acknowledged how awful the movie was, especially considering he turned down the role of Neo in ''Film/TheMatrix'' to make this instead (though he's admitted that ''that'' part, at least, wasn't a mistake). He's been a ''little'' nicer to this film, however, in the wake of bigger disappointments like ''Film/AfterEarth'' (which came out the same year as ''Film/TheLoneRanger'', which killed the superfluous Western a second time). It helps that his son Jaden didn't mind the film either. (Even on Smith's 1999 album ''Willennium'', when his father asked him which song to put on the CD next. Jaden, a toddler at the time, requested the film's theme song).

** Producer Jon Peters, notorious in Hollywood for his HairTriggerTemper, was [[ExecutiveMeddling responsible]] for many of the film's infamous {{anachronism|Stew}}s. A scene of West riding a horse, for instance, was replaced with him riding a motorcycle because Peters thought that horses were boring, even though the writers pointed out that the film was ''a [[TheWestern Western]] set in 1868''. However, the infamous giant {{steampunk}} SpiderTank from the climax, contrary to popular belief and Peters' reputation for [[CreatorThumbprint putting spiders in his movies]], wasn't Peters' idea; that was in the original script by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, and he actually tried to reject it initially in favor of a giant flying machine, with Sonnenfeld sticking up for it in meetings. Incidentally, the meetings concerning the spider were the last time that Maddock and Wilson heard from Peters.

** The film premiered over the Fourth of July weekend in 1999. Reviews were scathing, the box office wasn't much better, and a number of people involved with the original show condemned it, with Robert Conrad, the original Jim West, even personally collecting the three [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzies]] the film "won" in order to express his displeasure. Virtually everybody involved (save for Bai Ling) treats the film as an OldShame, though Maddock also regards it as a learning experience.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: The movie was called ''As Loucas Aventuras de James West'' (The Crazy Adventures of James West) in Brazil and "Las Aventuras De Jim West" (The Adventures of Jim West) in Latin America.

* DevelopmentHell: ''Hoo'' boy. The film was pitched as far back as 1992 as a straight-laced film adaptation of the series, to be directed by Creator/RichardDonner (who had directed several episodes of the series) and with Creator/MelGibson slated to play Jim West and a script by Creator/ShaneBlack. The duo ended up making ''Film/{{Maverick}}'' instead. Creator/TomCruise was then attached to the project before he decided to revamp ''Film/MissionImpossible'' in its place; only then was the project overhauled into the comedic Will Smith vehicle you see today.

--> “I never wanted to see Will in drag. I thought it was prurient, unnecessary, silly and in there only because Peters loved it and refused to let us take it out. [[EightDeadlyWords We really lose the audience from there till the end of the movie because of the stupidity of that weird harem dance]]. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone I cringe every time I think about it]]. Until the dance, it’s a good scene. Loveless is scary, and the audience believes that he’s going to take over America. But then it’s like, ‘Oh wait a minute, I’m gonna forget all that because there’s a harem girl who I didn’t invite — [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere I’ve no idea how she got here]] — but boy she’s sexy, and who wants to take over America when there’s a girl in a green harem outfit next to me?’ [[PunctuatedForEmphasis It. Made. No. Sense.]]”

* CreatorBacklash: Barry Sonnenfeld had a ''lot'' of problems with Jon Peters' ExecutiveMeddling, but he particularly had a problem with the scene where Will Smith dresses up as a harem dancer to distract Loveless. He said if he had more clout at the time, he'd have walked from the film at that point.

** Despite enjoying his work on the film, Creator/TedLevine admitted that the film's storyline was all over the place due to the constant changes of the script and attributed this along with Will Smith's casting to the film's failure.
** S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock admitted that it wasn't the film they were hoping for due to the constant scriptwriting changes without their knowledge.
** Creator/KennethBranagh self-deprecatingly joked that his accent in this movie might be the worst American accent performed by a British actor.

* DisownedAdaptation: Robert Conrad, who played Jim West on the original TV series, was very vocal in his dislike of the movie, personally accepting the [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzies]] it "won". His dislike started when they asked him to do a RemakeCameo as President Grant; on reading the script he described it as an insult to Ross Martin (Artemus Gordon) and Michael Dunn (Dr. Miguelito Loveless). You'd be hardpressed to find a fan of the show who disagrees.

* StillbornFranchise: Any ideas of sequels or even continuing the franchise were left stranded with this movie becoming SnarkBait.