The biggest movie stars on the planet consistently find themselves starring in films that make bank at the box office. Just look at the box office receipts for actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Angelina Jolie to see what sustained success looks like.
Will Smith has been a successful star for years on end, but even the biggest stars find themselves in a lackluster offering. This is what happened with Smith’s Gemini Man, which went on to lose millions.
Let’s take a closer look at Will Smith and his time in Gemini Man.
Will Smith Has Had Countless Hits
Will Smith is one of the most loved and popular actors of all time, and his mainstream popularity actually began back when he was still a young rapper out of Philadelphia. The Fresh Prince had some radio hits, but once he transitioned to acting, everything would change in a hurry.
Starring on one of the greatest sitcoms in television history was a tremendous way to kick things off, and the big screen came knocking in no time for Smith. This led to him becoming one of the most successful movie stars of the ’90s and the 2000s.
A quick glance at Will Smith’s acting credits will reveal some huge films that made hundreds of millions of dollars. Smith starred in projects like the Bad Boys franchise, the Men in Black franchise, Enemy of the State, Hitch, I Am Legend, Hancock, and a whole lot more. It’s a stacked list of credits, and it just goes to show how much success that Will Smith has been able to maintain through the years.
As time has gone on, things haven’t been quite as hot for Smith at the box office as they once were, but things looked to potentially turn around when he scored the lead role in Gemini Man.
‘Gemini Man’ Was Supposed To Thrive
2019’s Gemini Man was poised to be Will Smith’s next big hit, and the previews painted an interesting picture about the film. It was heavily marketed as Will Smith taking on a younger version of himself, and this was made possible with the use of de-aging technology, which has become used more frequently in Hollywood.
When speaking on seeing the de-aging in the flim for the first time, Smith said, “The first shot I saw was [when] the older character (Henry) flips [his younger clone] — it’s always weird — old Will flips young Will. There is a shot where the flashlight comes up onto his face. It is one of the best digital shots of the movie.”
To be fair, the technology did a great job in bringing the younger version of Smith to life, but it certainly helps that the beloved actor looks amazing for his age already. Nevertheless, the marketing campaign was in full effect, and some believed that Gemini Man had a lot of potential to be a hit.
Unfortunately, when Gemini Man finally saw a proper release, it was not able to receive a warm welcome from critics, and this played a part in the movie going on to lost millions of dollars for the studio.
It Was A Disaster That Lost Millions
According to SlashFilm, “Ang Lee’s Gemini Man, an action spectacle in which Smith has to fight a younger clone of himself, did paltry box office in America, but there was a hope that its weekend release in China could turn things around. But that didn’t happen. The end result is a box office bomb, with Gemini Man suffering a loss of at least $75 million. Ouch.”
Again, it’s not as if Will Smith was some random guy plucked out of obscurity to take the lead in a major project. He had a proven track record at the box office, but even he was not enough to turn Gemini Man into a hit after it had a huge budget, lackluster reviews, and a failure to catch on in major markets.
The movie was only able to muster up a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, but there is a clear divide with the fans. A fan score of 83% does suggest that plenty of people enjoyed what the flick brought to the table. Sadly, this did Gemini Man no favors during its theatrical run.
Instead of starring in another blockbuster hit, Will Smith wound up leading Gemini Man to a sizable loss for the studio. It was not the result that anyone was looking for, and we can’t imagine that anyone was satisfied with how things played out.
