Director Ang Lee Shared Some Cool Footage From His Will Smith Sci-Fi Thriller GEMINI MAN at CinemaCon

Ang Lee has been wanting to make this sci-fi thriller Gemini Man for years, but he had to wait for technology to catch up with him to be able to pull off the scale of visual epicness that he wanted to accomplish.

I recently got to see some of the very first footage from the film at CinemaCon and it looks like an incredible film that not only has stunning visuals, but also a strong story and script filled with intensity and deep emotion. This isn’t just going to be an action thriller, this is also a heavy-hitting drama.

The movie stars Will Smith, Clive Owen, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and the story follows an aging assassin (Smith) attempting to leave that kind of life behind him, but he finds himself being hunted down by a younger clone of himself.

I’ve got to say, the de-aged footage that I saw of Will Smith might just be the best de-aging that I’ve seen. I was completely blown away. Also, with Smith playing both his older and young self, both of which have different personalities because they’ve both had different experiences, we get to see him expand on his acting abilities and from what I saw… Smith is going to give an award worthy performance. Just wait until you see what he does with this! When Smith explained the film in a video, he called it, “a marriage of nuanced relatable characters with action.”

The footage screened was presented to us in 3D, and this is the kind of 3D filmmaking that will impress audiences. It brought the film and story to life in an explosive way. The tone of the film felt like a mix of Blade Runner and Looper.

We got to see some cool action sequences of a young Will Smith a.k.a. Junior on a Motorcycle chasing down the older version of the character, named Henry. But, the older version knows all of the clones moves, he’s always one step ahead of him and this confuses the clone because at first he doesn’t really know who he’s dealing with, who he has been ordered to kill. When he finds out there is a moral dilemma because he doesn’t know that he’s a clone of this man.

It’s explained that Henry was one of the best hitmen 25 years ago, so Clive Owen’s cloning program created a clone of him to replace him as the ultimate assassin. Henry and Junior eventually come face to face with each other and Junior isn’t happy that he has been ordered to kill his older self.

It’s unclear why Owen wants Henry Dead, even Henry asks Junior, “Of all the people in the world to come after me, why would he send you?” That’s a great question and one we that we don’t have an answer to! But, Henry ends up getting a little help to fight back from Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character Danny. She was originally an operative assigned to surveil Henry by Owen, but then she switches sides.

I’m really curious to see how the story of these two characters plays out. The footage I saw was intriguing and this might just end up being one of the best films of the year.

Gemini Man opens in theaters on October 4, 2019.