Will Smith (‘Suicide Squad’,’Men in Black’) has always been a genre actor and while his last few films haven’t fared well with critics or fans that all might be changing if he signs on for Ang Lee’s (‘Life of Pi’,’Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’) “clone assassin movie” ‘Gemini Man’. Various Studios have been wanting to put this “high concept action thriller” into production for years, and now it seems to finally be moving forward through Skydance. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing the film, and while Lee isn’t fully on board as of yet, it appears that he is in negotiations to direct it. If he does helm the film that alone would be a reason for excitement as outside of 2003’s ‘Hulk’ is is much more known for his hits and not misses.
With Lee directing, this could be the perfect role for Smith to show off the acting chops which made him a household name years ago and bring him back to being a high ranking A-Lister.
The movie itself revolves around an assassin who has passed his prime and is looking to quietly exit the business. Only, his employers don’t want him gone, and we see him having to go up against his clone who happens to be 25 years younger and in peak fighting condition.
That’s one interesting take on youth vs. experience.
The film has been in pre-production Hell since 1997 when Darren Lemke pitched it to Disney and had Don Murphy set to produce with Tony Scott directing. While everyone loved the concept, the special effects at the time made the entire idea impossible to pull off. The only way they could pull it off was to use different actors which felt as if it took away from the concept.
With this being a script every studio has wanted to make there have been treatments starring many actors including Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood.
Last year Skydance picked up the rights, and with today’s technology, it would be entirely feasible to use a single actor that has been de-aged as we’ve seen Lucasfilm do recently.
While Smith isn’t signed as of yet, he is in talks for the film and no offense to his current line up of movies, but this sounds like a much more interesting role to see him in than Genie in the live-action ‘Aladdin.’
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
