Nice guy that he was when he spent time in Sydney last year, Hollywood star Will Smith appears to have given Sydney the old heave-ho.
Smith, and not a lack of studio space, now seems to be the reason why I Robot - the film to be shot by homegrown director Alex Proyas - will now be based in Vancouver instead of Fox Studios in downtown Moore Park.

According to moviehole.net, Smith was reluctant to return to Australia after spending a good part of 2002 in Sydney while wife Jada Pinkett Smith starred in The Matrix sequels.

"I Robot went to Vancouver because (Smith) said no to Australia," a moviehole.net source said.

"Will could not be swayed. Too far from home. They didn't mind it here while Jada was filming Matrix but a source on that film said every minute they had off they spent at Chatswood Chase shopping centre! They were not overwhelmed by Sydney!"

The website says Proyas, who last directed Garage Days (2002), was keen for the production to be based in Sydney.

The Daily Telegraph

Source: Press Release