The film stars Will Smith (who previously collaborated with Sonnenfeld on Men in Black two years earlier in 1997) and Kevin Kline as two U.S. Secret Service agents who work together to protect U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (Kline in a dual role) and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats during the American Old West.

Marshal Artemus Gordon cross paths with each other in their hunt for ex-Confederate General "Bloodbath" McGrath, seemingly responsible for a massacre in New Liberty where West's parents were killed.

Aboard their train The Wanderer, West and Gordon examine the severed head of scientist Thaddeus Morton, finding a clue that leads them to Dr. Arliss Loveless, a legless ex-Confederate officer and engineering genius.

Upon catching up with Loveless on The Wanderer, a panicked Rita accidentally releases sleeping gas during a brief fight, knocking out West, Gordon, and herself.

After narrowly escaping, West and Gordon stumble across Loveless' private railroad, leading to his secret industrial complex at Spider Canyon.

Variety first reported in January 1992 that Warner Bros. had optioned the film rights to Michael Garrison's television show The Wild Wild West, and hired Richard Donner to direct a film adaptation written by Shane Black, with Mel Gibson in the role of Jim West (Donner coincidentally directed three episodes of the original series).

[5] Discussions with Will Smith and Barry Sonnenfeld began in February 1997 after the two had wrapped up production on Men in Black for Columbia Pictures the same year.

[7] Warner Bros. pursued George Clooney to co-star with Smith as Artemus Gordon, with Kevin Kline, Matthew McConaughey and Johnny Depp also in contention for the role while screenwriters S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock (best known for writing the Short Circuit and Tremors films) were hired by the studio to script the film between April and May 1997.

[8] Clooney signed on the following August after dropping out of Jack Frost, while the Wilson-Maddock script was rewritten by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (best known for writing the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Doc Hollywood).

[9] However in December 1997, Clooney was replaced by Kline after an agreement with Sonnenfeld: "Ultimately, we all decided that rather than damage this project trying to retrofit the role for me, it was better to step aside and let them get someone else.

For instance, Dr. Loveless, as portrayed by Kenneth Branagh in the film, went from a dwarf to a man without legs who uses a steam-powered wheelchair (similar to that employed by the villain in the episode "The Night of the Brain"); his first name was also changed from Miguelito to Arliss and was given the motive of a Southerner who sought the defeat of the North after the Civil War.

Kevin Kline plays Artemus Gordon in the film, whose character is similar to the show's version of him portrayed by Ross Martin, except that he is much more egotistical than Jim West.

[11] After Batman director Tim Burton came onboard, Smith's script was scrapped and the film was never produced due to further complications.

[12] Neil Gaiman also revealed that Peters insisted that a giant mechanical spider be included in a proposed film adaptation of The Sandman.

The score mainly follows the Western genre's symphonic tradition, while at times also acknowledging the film's anachronistic playfulness by employing a more contemporary music style with notable rock percussion and electronic organ.

Additional parts of the score were composed by Bernstein's son Peter, while his daughter Emilie served as one of the orchestrators and producers.

[17] All music is composed by Elmer Bernstein, except as noted.All music is composed by Elmer Bernstein, except as noted.Upon release on June 30, 1999, alongside Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.' R-rated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, several news reports arose stating that adolescent moviegoers purchased tickets into seeing the PG-13-rated Wild Wild West in theaters, but instead went to see the South Park film.

[25] The film ended its theatrical run on October 10, 1999 after five months, having grossed $113,804,681 domestically and $108,300,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $222,104,681 against a production budget of $170 million, making it commercially unsuccessful.

While he had no problem with changing Jim West to be African-American, he felt that Will Smith was wrong for the part and would have preferred someone with "a Wesley Snipes body with a Denzel Washington head".

[35] Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that were the basis for the television series.