Gemini Man (2019)
Gemini Man is an American action thriller film directed by Ang Lee and produced by David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke in 2019. Starring Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong, the film follows a hitman who, while running from the government, is targeted by a younger clone.
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| Gemini Man (2019) |
Originally conceived in 1997, the movie spent nearly 20 years in development hell. Numerous directors were all attached at some point, including Tony Scott, Curtis Hanson, and Joe Carnahan, and various stars, including Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Sean Connery, starred. Skydance Entertainment purchased the script rights (through several rewritings) from Disney in 2016 and Ang Lee signed on to direct for Skydance in October 2017 with Paramount holding the distribution rights. From February to May 2018, shooting took place.
Gemini Man premiered at the Zurich Film Festival on October 1, 2019 and was released theatrically on selected screens (including 16 Dolby Cinema and 47 IMAX laser screens worldwide) by Paramount Pictures in the United States on October 11, 2019, in standard 2D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX as well as in HFR (high frame rate) "3D+." The film generally received negative reviews from critics, complimenting the performances, but lamenting the script and plot. Smith's de-aging and the high frame rate of 120 FPS drew a mixed response, with some critics praising them as technical accomplishments, while others felt unconvincing. The movie was a box office bomb with a total production budget of $138 million, with expected losses of up to $75 million.
About The Gemini Man
Directed by: Ang Lee
Produced by: Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger
Screenplay by: David Benioff, Billy Ray and Darren Lemke
Story by: Darren Lemke and David Benioff
Starring: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong
Music by: Lorne Balfe
Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Edited by: Tim Squyres
Production company: Skydance Media and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Fosun Pictures and Alibaba Pictures
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release date: October 1, 2019 (ZFF) and October 11, 2019 (United States)
Running time: 117 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $138–158 million
Box office: $118.7 million.
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| Gemini Man (2019) |
Plot
Henry Brogan is sent on a mission to kill an unknown terrorist on a bullet train, an elderly government assassin. Henry's spotter warns him during the task of a young girl approaching the target, causing Henry to postpone his shot to the last second, shooting the man in the neck while aiming for his chest. Henry retires from government service, disillusioned with violence.
While adjusting to retirement, Henry meets Dani, boat rental operator, and reconnects with an old friend, Jack, who reveals that an informant named Yuri told him that the man killed by Henry was innocent; demanding evidence, Henry has Jack arrange a meeting with Yuri. Agency boss Lassiter plans to kill him in revenge for Henry discovering their deception; Clay Varris, head of a top-secret black ops group codenamed "GEMINI," demands permission to remove him but is refused.
Realizing Dani is a fellow agent sent to supervise him, Henry is acquainted with her. Henry calls his spotter, who is killed along with Jack and his girlfriend, after his home has been broken into by government agents. Henry informs Dani of the attack and succeeds in killing the assassins sent after them, learning that the company wants both of them killed.
Henry and Dani, fleeing to Colombia, go to Henry's former colleague Baron's home and plan to meet Yuri for additional options. While, to kill Henry, Clay deploys his top assassin. Henry notices that the assassin bears an odd similarity to himself as a young man, with a different set of skills. When the wounded assassin appears in a safehouse, he is revealed to be the Junior "father" adopted by Clay. Although he is concerned about Henry's similarities, Junior is told to complete the job.
Henry is also troubled by his similarities with the assassin who, given Henry's denials, Dani suggests might be his brother. Testing DNA samples obtained from Junior, Dani discovers that his DNA is similar to that of Henry–Junior is the younger clone of Henry. Desperate for answers, Henry meets Yuri in Hungary and hears about the plan of cloning and that one of the scientists of the project was the man he killed. Having developed a system for creating pain-free and emotion-free clones, the researcher attempted to leave the venture and was killed upon discovery.
In an attempt to get Junior to turn away from the plans of Clay, Henry calls Lassiter, who offers to send Junior to take Dani back to the United States safely. Junior sets up a trap for Henry while gathering Dani, but she alerts him through a secret listening device concealed in her lip. Henry reveals to Junior that he is a clone, ambushing the younger gunman, convincing him by exposing their similar characteristics that no one else could recognize. Escape back to GEMINI, Clay is confronted by a heartbroken junior, who says he must beat Henry to overcome him.
Since slipping out of GEMINI, meeting Henry, Junior allies with him to bring down Clay, while convincing Junior to leave to become a better person. Baron is killed in an ambush ordered by Clay, after a brief hand-to-hand battle, with Junior knocking Clay unconscious.
Henry, Dani, and Junior face another clone with special body armor that experiences no pain or emotions after fighting a wave of GEMINI operatives. They manage to kill it after repeated shooting the clone and several secondary explosions. A defeated Clay tries to justify Junior's actions, who almost shoots him. Henry otherwise persuades Junior and kills Clay himself, having lived with the heavy burden already.
Henry later meets with Junior, who has enrolled in college under the assumed identity of "Jackson Brogan" after Henry's surname, to ensure that there are no more clones that have been created and that they are finally free from damage. Together, Henry and Dani are anticipating the future of Jackson.
Cast
Will Smith as Henry Brogan, an aging government assassin with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), regarded as the best killer of his generation.
Smith also portrays Jackson Brogan (codenamed "Junior"), a cloned assassin of Henry sent after him, and "Senior", another cloned assassin sent after him. Smith was "digitally de-aged" through the use of motion capture and computer generated imagery.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Dani Zakarweski, a Navy veteran and DIA agent who helps Henry after he saves her from being assassinated.
Clive Owen as Clayton "Clay" Varris, the ruthless director of GEMINI who creates Junior to "retire" Henry and take his place.
Benedict Wong as Baron, an old friend of Henry's who works as a tour operator.
Ralph Brown as Del Patterson, Henry's handler at the DIA.
Linda Emond as Janet Lassiter, the director of the DIA.
Theodora Miranne as Kitty, Jack's mistress.
Douglas Hodge as Jack Willis, an old Marine Corps colleague of Henry's.
Ilia Volok as Yuri Kovacs, a Russian operative who has been secretly monitoring GEMINI's history.
E. J. Bonilla as Marino, a DIA agent killed for his association with Henry.
Björn Freiberg as Keller
Production
Gemini Man was originally sold to Walt Disney Pictures with Don Murphy to produce and Tony Scott to direct in 1997, based on a design by Darren Lemke. The film was previously directed by Scott, Curtis Hanson, and Joe Carnahan. At the time, the now-defunct animation / visual effects department of Disney The Secret Lab created a short test, known as the Human Face Project, to produce visual effects for the film, which would include the development of the main actor's younger CG clone. The leading role was played by Harrison Ford, Chris O'Donnell, Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Sean Connery. At Disney, however, the movie never succeeded as the technology was not sufficiently developed to make the film at that time.
Billy Ray, Andrew Niccol, David Benioff, Brian Helgeland, Jonathan Hensleigh, and Stephen J. Rivele & Christopher Wilkinson's writing team have since rewritten Lemke's screenplay.
Skydance Media purchased the movie from Disney in 2016, producing Jerry Bruckheimer along with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger from Skydance. The executive producers would be Murphy, Mike Stenson, Chad Oman and Brian Bell, and Guo Guangchang from Fosun. Ang Lee was hired in April 2017 to direct the movie for Paramount Pictures and Skydance, and Fosun Pictures soon came on board to fund it.
Will Smith was cast in the lead role and an October 11, 2019 release date was set. Clive Owen and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were cast in the movie in January 2018, with Winstead winning Tatiana Maslany's role. Benedict Wong joined the cast when shooting started in February 2018.
Main production started in Glennville, Georgia on February 27, 2018 and included locations in Cartagena City, Colombia. Filming took place at the Széchenyi Thermal Bath in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2018. Unlike Lee's previous film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, the film was shot on adapted ARRI Alexa cameras mounted on STEREOTEC 3D Rigs at an extra-high frame rate of 120 fps, optimized for 3D this time.
Weta Digital provides the visual effects and is overseen by Bill Westenhofer.
Release
On October 11, 2019, Paramount Pictures released Gemini Man in the U.S. It was initially scheduled to be released on October 4, but Paramount pushed the film back for release a week later. It made its debut at the Zurich Film Festival on October 1, 2019.
Conclusion
A hitman over the hill faces a younger clone of himself.
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