What Could Have Been: Richard Donner actually directed three episodes of the original series back in 1966, so had a long-established connection to the material. In early 1992 it was announced that the Lethal Weapon director would be re-teaming with that movie's writer Shane Black and star Mel Gibson to make a feature-length version of the show. However, nothing came of it and Donner and Gibson instead moved on and adapted another Western series, with Maverick released in 1994. What We Got Instead: One of the worst blockbusters in recent memory. Men In Black director Barry Sonnenfeld and star Will Smith made the project instead, armed with a $175m budget that made it the third most expensive production in history at the time. Despite having no less than six credited writers, Wild Wild West failed miserably in juggling the action, comedy, Western and steampunk elements and the result was a horrendous misfire. Will Smith publicly apologized to original series star Robert Conrad for the poor quality of the movie, with Conrad voicing his disdain by appearing at the Razzie Awards in person to collect the five trophies the movie was awarded. Verdict: Virtually anything would have been better than the mess that was the Sonnenfeld/Smith version, one that completely botched the potential of the premise and ended up as a series of elaborate and expensive set-pieces and little else. A movie billed as 'James Bond in the Old West' from Donner, Black and Gibson sounded a great deal better, if only we could have seen this version instead. Maverick was still okay though.
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