‘Gemini Man’ Begins Filming, Will Smith Shares A Video From The Swampy Set
After years of languishing in development hell,Gemini Manhas finally started rolling its cameras. Shortly afterAng Leebecameattached to the project last year,the production kicked into high gear, soon adding starsWill Smith,Clive Owen,andMary Elizabeth Winstead.
Now, Smith has shared a charming video from the Savannah, Georgia set ofGemini Man, where the actor braves all manner of swampy wildlife to shoot the science-fiction clone thriller.
Will Smith revealed on his Instagram thatGemini Manhas begun production in Savannah, Georgia. Wearing a mosquito net around his face, Smith complains about the local bug-infested area as he announcesGemini Man’sfirst day of shooting on Tuesday.
“This is my first day of shooting on the movie, it’s calledGemini Man, we’re shooting in Georgia,” Smith says in the video. “I love Georgia, but you gotta do something about the bugs.”
First week on my new film @GeminiManMovie!! Ang Lee got me out here fighting the wildlife.
A post shared byWill Smith(@willsmith) onFeb 27, 2018 at 4:52pm PST
Despite the irritating wildlife, it doesn’t seem to present a problem for the production ofGemini Man, a sci-fi movie that has been long in the making. First pitched byDarren Lemkein 1997,Tony Scottwas initially attached to direct the ambitious thriller about an over-the-hill hitman who faces off against a younger clone of himself.
The project would attract the likes ofMel GibsonandClint Eastwoodto the role, while numerous screenwriters, includingBrian Helgeland(L.A. Confidential),Andrew Niccol(The Truman Show), andDavid Benioff(Game of Thrones), would take a stab at the script. But the project soon came to a halt when it was clear the technology needed to make it just wasn’t available.
Enter Ang Lee in 2017. TheLife of Pidirector took an interest in the movie, and with de-aging technology getting honed in blockbusters such asThe Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonandAnt-Man,Gemini Manseemed ripe for resurrection. Alongside Scorsese’s decades-spanningThe Irishman, the next few years will be a great showcase for de-aging technology.
Smith plays the dual roles of Henry, an aging assassin, and his younger clone who is sent to kill him. Owen is set to play the head of the cloning program that creates Henry’s 25-years-younger clone, while Winstead is Danny, the operative assigned to surveil Henry who later teams up with him against their malicious employer. Produced byJerry Bruckheimer, the Paramount Pictures and Skydance film also starsBenedict Wong.
