A Will Smith Sci-Fi Movie Originally Had An Agatha Christie Vibe

Will Smith's experiences in the science fiction genre are a bit of a roller coaster, but most movie-goers would agree that the highs of his career feel nothing short of exhilarating when you encounter them for the first time. Yes, you might have to go through an "After Earth" in his catalogue to get there, but you're rewarded with titles like "I Am Legend" for your troubles. One of the more highly-regarded entries in the Smith filmography is "I, Robot," and the beloved Isaac Asimov riff was originally going to be an Agatha Christie-tinged mystery. But Walt Disney Pictures wanted some changes after acquiring the project, which might have ended up working out for the creative team, judging by that massive $353 million box office return for "I, Robot."

"I, Robot" is a 2004 sci-fi movie starring Will Smith as detective Del Spooner, and it's reminiscent of so many other roles that the megastar ended up playing in the middle of that decade. His detective is aloof and skeptical of technology after a traumatic accident from his past in the Chicago Police Department, which creates complications when he's asked to investigate a possible murder of a robotics CEO. Spooner feels like the only man in the world who doesn't freely accept the technological order of things in the world of this film, and that makes him the perfect person to investigate this crime after an initial investigation diagnoses it as a suicide. "I, Robot" is fun and fast-paced to a fault, with Smith operating at near peak charisma, and that's why people still remember this movie fondly.

People who loved Smith in "I, Robot" probably recall the slick CGI action sequences in this film and some impressive voice-over work from Alan Tudyk as Sonny, the robot suspect in the central murder case. But, in an earlier incarnation of the script, there were multiple suspects close to the murder of Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), and that's where the Agatha Christie of it all came into play.

Writer Jeff Vintar remembers when "I, Robot" was known as "Hardwired" back in 1995, as he was thinking about artificial intelligence long before the current plague on our general lives. As the project morphed over time, he began to build out a world where a supercomputer and a hologram were suspects in the central murder case, along with Sonny. But, as the project was acquired by Disney in the same year, with Bryan Singer directing, the form of this film began to shift, and Vintar had to be quick on his feet. He told Screenwriter's Utopia about the changes back in 2004, and figured out a workaround that ended up shifting as well. Vintar explained:

"Now, the original script was very much like an Agatha Christie type of mystery. It took place in one setting, one floor in one high tech building. Other than that, it follows the same line as the finished film. A while [after buying the script, Disney] attached a good director, Bryan Singer. I worked on the script with him. The problem was that the script was so contained, almost like a stage play, that we had to find a way to make this work for the studio. So we transferred the setting and put it on a space station as a way to explain the fact that it was so confined. I did a few drafts there."

From that description, we can see that there was a sense of isolation baked into this earlier form of "I, Robot," but it didn't make the cut for the studio. It's hard to imagine the automated car chase occurring in this version of the movie, which would have been a shame, as it's one of those set pieces that people immediately think of when they recall "I, Robot." While the released film plays off of some paranoia while Sonny is on the run from Detective Spooner, it's easy to imagine a version of the story where he doesn't have very many humans to bounce off of, and that choice would raise the tension even higher. Mentioning Agatha Christie here also makes you think about the infamous resolution to "Murder on the Orient Express," where all of the suspects played a role in the victim's demise. That's a very different film from the one "I, Robot" turned out to be!

Any time revelations like this trickle out for a big Hollywood movie, some fans rush to lament the film that we all could have had. But it's important to note that Alex Proyas' science fiction entry ended up being the 11th highest-grossing movie of 2004 at the box office. Critics were mostly warm to "I, Robot," but there were some detractors of the movie's plot who felt like it was a bit too mechanical. Still, in the current age of film discourse, there are a lot of folks who absolutely loved this science fiction action ride and wonder if Will Smith will get to play Del Spooner again someday. So, there is some good in the road that was actually taken in place of the Agatha Christie vibes.

Tailoring movies to a broad audience is a thorny topic, and one that gets discussed into the ground on various social media platforms in our current pop culture landscape. As many people debate the role of a studio giving a filmmaker notes about accessibility or complexity in a script, there are rare times when it does work out. Having Will Smith in the lead role probably doesn't hurt matters at all. In fact, we could end up seeing an "I, Robot" sequel in the coming years, as he continues this strange little redemption tour he's found himself on before the release of "Bad Boys Ride or Die." Sometimes, a change in vibes isn't a bad thing.