Older actors playing their younger selves is becoming rather common these days, but none of those movies have done what Gemini Man is doing.
Directed by Ang Lee, Gemini Man is about a deadly assassin being hunted by another deadly assassin. It just so happens, though, that the hunter and prey are the same person separated by a few decades. Both roles are played by Will Smith but Smith isn’t digitally de-aged to play his younger self. It’s a completely digital character. Full replacement. And, in the new trailer for Gemini Man, you can see that the line between what’s real and fake is getting blurry.
No matter how good or bad you think those effects are it won’t matter if you don’t care about the story. And that’s why having Lee at the forefront is so important. He’s an Oscar-winning filmmaker who has made a living blending awe-inspiring technical advances and special effects (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Life of Pi are the two best examples) with human stories and great characters. He truly believes this story about two men dealing grappling their own mortality, hidden in this big action showcase, is going to work. We really hope so too.
https://gizmodo.com/this-gemini-man-featurette-dives-into-how-young-will-sm-1836660575
Check back to io9 next week to learn much more about the effects process behind Gemini Man. The film, which co-stars Benedict Wong, Clive Owen, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, opens October 11.
For more, make sure you’re following us on our new Instagram @io9dotcom.
