Rewrites and infighting: Why the Men in Black reboot failed

It opened to poor reviews and soft box office takings — and it turns out, the much-hyped reboot of the iconic Men in Black franchise had a very troubled inception.

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson star in Men in Black: International, the fourth instalment in the popular franchise and the first in which Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones do not appear.

A fascinating in-depth look at the making of this latest movie published by The Hollywood Reporter reveals that it was originally meant to be very different film: A 21 Jump Street mash-up, if you can believe it.

In 2016, Sony Pictures attempted to go ahead with a planned"crossover" film that would see the alien-fighting characters of Men in Black collide with the hapless undercover cops from the hugely successful 21 Jump Street reboot, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

It's unclear how the two fictional worlds would have melded together — and we'll never know, as the ambitious plans fell in a heap when parties from each franchise couldn't come to an agreement on how to proceed.

Men In Black: International, starring Chris Hemsworth, was initially intended to be a 21 Jump Street mashup. Photo / supplied

The next question, now 21 Jump Street was off the table: Would Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their leading roles as Agents J and K for the fourth film? The Hollywood Reporter says that booking the two A-listers was seen as both "expensive and not a forward-looking proposition" — so the studio pivoted to a MIB reboot with a new cast.

Early drafts of the script were strong enough to see Aussie A-lister Chris Hemsworth and his Marvel co-star Tessa Thompson sign on as leads — but The Hollywood Reporter says that by the time it came to filming, hasty script rewrites were "causing a certain amount of confusion" among the actors, with Thompson and Hemsworth even hiring their own dialogue writers.

The result? Not a total disaster but certainly an underwhelming entry in the Men in Black canon. The film received negative reviews from critics, who criticised the "lacklustre action and forgettable plot".

Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in the original Men In Black series. Photo / supplied

The film debuted atop the box office both in the US and here in Australia this week — but still well below expectations. In the US, Men in Black: International brought in $US30 million in its opening weekend, making it the first film in the franchise not to open above $US50 million.

With a production budget of $US94-110 million, and an additional $US120 million spent on marketing, it's estimated that the film will have to gross $US300 million worldwide in order to break even. Just one week after release, that's looking unlikely.

The mediocre reviews and poor box office showing combine to make Men in Black: International what The Hollywood Reporter has dubbed a "franchise freezer".

In other words: If we see another instalment in the Men in Black franchise, it won't be for quite a while.