Why Men In Black: International Failed

4. Hasty On-Set Rewrites Altered The Original Script

Unsurprisingly, the frustrating plotting apparently has a lot to do with the fact the script was hastily rewritten.

According to THR, the original screenplay for the movie was "edgier, and more timely", dealing with contemporary topics while still delivering the laughs. F. Gary Gray's take on the story would be more focused on using the aliens as an immigration allegory, with far more overtly progressive themes (remnants of which remain in the eventual film, as one of the alien races is seeking refuge rather than destruction - though it's never actually explored). Sources claim it was a good screenplay, and at the very least good enough to attract two major stars not lacking job offers.

In a lot of ways, it sounds like the original Men in Black. Though that movie is remembered for its Big Willie Style, Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan performance and talking pugs, there was real heart to it. It used an intergalactic framing to tell a deeply human story about family, and you could tell it had a real fondness and reverence for ideas and concepts bigger than humanity.

This version, however, was apparently dogged by rewrites both in pre-production and during filming, all oversaw by longtime producer Walter Parkes, who didn't like Gray's vision for the movie. Apparently this led to new script pages turning up on the day said scenes were set to film, as Parkes attempted to soften the story's edges and get his vision made.

Allegedly, it got so bad that while the script was already being rewritten on a daily basis, Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth brought in their own dialogue writers to change up their lines and salvage their own roles.