Director Barry Sonnenfeld knows exactly what went wrong with Will Smith’s Wild Wild West

It’s hard to overstate how popular Will Smith was in 1999. He’s still one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but in 1999 he was everywhere. Fresh off his hit sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ and the hugely successful film ‘Men in Black’, Smith was one of the hottest stars around. Oh, and his debut solo album, “Big Willie Style,” was a multiplatinum hit. So imagine everyone’s excitement when he reteamed with “Men in Black” director Barry Sonnenfeld for a reboot of the 1960s TV Western “The Wild Wild West,” starring Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.

The hype was real, but unfortunately “Wild Wild West” was a critical box office hit. It was a major hiccup in Smith’s career, and he later admitted that he believes it is the worst film in his entire filmography.