Few stars from the 90s and beyond have come close to matching the success of Will Smith. After beginning his career as a rapper, Smith transitioned to television in one of the greatest sitcoms of all time before conquering the big screen. The man simply has the golden touch, and at this point, he has nothing left to accomplish.
During his most prolific years, Will Smith had a huge opportunity stare him right in the face that he completely missed out on. In turn, he lost out on a chance to make $250 million.
So, how did Will Smith miss out on a huge payday? Let’s take a look at the decision that changed everything.
He Passed On The Matrix For Wild Wild West
One of the most important components to remaining on top of the movie business is choosing the right role at the right time, but this is far easier said than done. Some stars are good about it, but even they are not immune from swinging and missing on a huge opportunity. Unfortunately, this was the case for Will Smith back when he chose Wild Wild West over The Matrix.
Now, hindsight makes it pretty obvious that this was a terrible decision, but Smith himself would touch on why he wound up passing on The Matrix. In fact, the way he puts it makes it understandable, to a degree.
“So after we made Men in Black, the Wachowskis, they came in and they had only done one movie. I think that movie was called Bound. And they came in and made a pitch for The Matrix. And as it turns out, they’re geniuses! But there’s a fine line in a pitch meeting between genius and what I experienced in the meeting,” Smith told his YouTube followers.
The Wachowskis tried their best to pitch the movie and their groundbreaking effects to no avail. Turns out, they were quite confusing to Smith understand, and he would elaborate on this in his YouTube video.
Smith recounted their pitch, saying, “Imagine if you could stop jumping in the middle of the jump. But then people could see around you 360 while you’re jumping and…when you stop jumping.”
Due to the confusion, Will Smith passed on the project and wound up starring in Wild Wild West, which was a sizable misfire.
Keanu Reeves Gets The Job
With Will Smith out of the picture, the studio needed to find the right guy to play Neo, and while other actors were considered, it would be Keanu Reeves who ultimately got the role of a lifetime and the chance to further cement himself as an action movie star.
With Reeves in the lead role and a talented cast that boasted the likes of Lawrence Fishbourne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, The Matrix went on to become a global smash that introduced the world to groundbreaking special effects. You know, the same effects that the Wachowskis poorly explained to Will Smith.
After The Matrix hit at the box office, sequels were right around the corner. Instead of doing one and then the other down the line, the studio went ahead and made them together. This was a huge gamble, but at the end of the day, these flicks made some serious coin at the box office.
Reeves Made $250 Million For The Trilogy
So, how exactly did Will Smith miss out on making so much money? Well, Keanu Reeves had a nice wrinkle in his contract that included a portion of the profits for the sequels. According to Business Insider, the grand total that Reeves pulled down for the trilogy was a whopping $250 million, which is one of the biggest paydays in film history.
Fortunately, all was not lost for Will Smith. Sure, Wild Wild West was nowhere close to being on the same level as The Matrix, but Smith would go on and continue the box office dominance he established in the 90s. With films like I, Robot, Hitch, Hancock, and the continuation of the Men in Black and Bad Boys franchises, Smith did just fine for himself.
“If I had done it because I’m black, then Morpheus wouldn’t have been black ’cause they were looking at Val Kilmer. So, I probably would have messed The Matrix up, I would have ruined it. I did y’all a favor,” said Smith when talking about how the Matrix films would have been drastically different with him on board.
Will Smith missed out on a $250 million payday, but with a net worth of $350 million, we’re sure that he’s okay with it by now.