Gemini Man
Will Smith became a box office superstar thanks to his ' 90s sci - fi blockbusters , but his junket with the genre have find out mixed consequence since then . At the height of his resplendence , there were few other actors who could match Smith for his commercial prowess . The knocker - turned movie mavin was not only immensely popular , he was ( just as significantly ) a uniform attraction , and still holds the note of being the only actor to have eight of his films gross over $ 100 million in the U.S. in a run-in .
Smith has miss some of his boxwood office lustre in the 21st century due to a few little misfires and a yoke of expensive flops in the forms ofAfter Earthand last year’sGemini Man . Despite pairing Smith with big - name music director ( M. Night Shyamalan and Ang Lee ) and eminent - conception sci - fi premises , both of those would - be blockbusters failed to impress critics and fell well short of gross $ 100 million domestically . In the guinea pig ofGemini Man , it lost an approximate $ 111.1 million , putting it in the troupe of 2019 box part bombs likeCats , Terminator : Dark Fate , andX - gentleman’s gentleman : Dark Phoenix .
touch : Will Smith Starred in Two Movies With the Same Plot in the Past twelvemonth
plainly , a bunch switch in - between Smith making his name as the baron of ' XC sci - fi movie house and starring in a sci - fi pic that lost over $ 100 million two X by and by . However , for explain what happened , it ’s well to set off at the beginning .
Will Smith Was a Sci-Fi Movie Star
After breaking out on television set withThe Fresh Prince of Bel - Airin the first one-half of the ' 90s , Smith made the transition to starring in movies thanks to Michael Bay’sBad Boysin 1995 . A year after that , Smith play the Marine airplane pilot Captain Steven Hiller in Roland Emmerich’sIndependence Day , an exotic invasion tentpole that went on to become the highest - grossing title of 1996 and the 2d highest - grossing ever at that time , just behindJurassic Park . One class later , he recall to the sci - fi genre with another home trial in the form ofMen in Black , an adaption of the comic books that pair off him opposite Tommy Lee Jones and made well over $ 500 million worldwide ( an impressive feat today , much less in 1997 ) .
In retrospect , pairing a charismatic leading man like Smith with crowd - pleasing sci - fi action motion-picture show apparatus seems like a no - brainer , but at the time the achiever of these films came as more of a surprise . Their performances led Smith to continue ferment in the literary genre , beginning withWild Wild Westin 1999 . Unfortunately , in nastiness of the many surface - level similarities between that movie andMen in Black(both were send by Barry Sonnenfeld , accommodate from off - beat source material , and cast Smith as the jr. , hipper one-half of an mixed buddy duo ) , the latter bombed at the box bureau and mostly left audiences bewildered by its bizarremashup of steampunk sci - fi , western action at law - clowning , and just unmixed horniness . That it come out the same year asThe Matrix- one of the most influential sci - fi moving picture in modern times and a picture show Smith was in the first place approached to star in , but passed on - was only more Strategic Arms Limitation Talks on the lesion .
What Happened to Will Smith’s Sci-Fi Movies
While Smith has since include he regrets makingWild Wild West , he ’s alsoinsisted Keanu Reeves was perfectly cast inThe Matrixand the film would n’t have become what it did if he ’d sign up on to play Neo . Still , it ’s difficult not to wonder what would ’ve really come to eliminate , had Smith collaborate with the Wachowski sisters on their breakout labor . alternatively , he return to sci - fi in 2002 forMen in Black II , a continuation that perform well enough at the box place to get a followup ( Men in Black III , released ten old age afterwards ) , but was far from a mega - hit and was criticized for lacking the inventiveness and intelligence information of its predecessor . Smith went back to the sci - fi well once again in 2004 forI , Robot , a movie that re - opine Isaac Asimov ’s source fabric into the character of crew - pleaser Smith made his name with , but with enough variety ( like giving Smith a untested sidekick played by Shia LaBeouf , rather than an old male costar ) to keep the rule palpate fresh . Much likeMen in Black II , I , Robotdid okay overall , but fell short of the taproom lay by his biggest hit from the ' 90s .
Related : I , Robot 2 Updates : Is the Will Smith Sequel Happening ?
This downswing can be blamed on a couple of factor . Firstly , both of these films were attempts to keep the blockbusters drift from the ' 90s decease ata clock time when the landscape was quickly changingand superhero movies were in the early stages of taking over . Secondly , they were made at a time when the estimation of a " movie star " as a bankable affair was already in decline and franchise were steady becoming something audiences were more invested in than A - listers . Smith was well cognisant of this , which is why he followed those films with a more striking sci - fi offer in the form of 2007’sI Am Legend(an adaptation of author Richard Matheson ’s post - apocalyptic novel ) and , five years after that , don his black shades once again forMen in Black III , an installment that fleshed out the backstory for Jones ' Agent K ( with Josh Brolin recreate a young translation of the type ) . Tellingly , those movies performed better - both financially and critically - than Smith ’s sci - fi pic in the former ' 00s .
Around the same clock time , Smith teamed up with author Gary Whitta forAfter Earth , a flick intended to launch a shared universe that , had it come to snuff it , would’ve rivaled the MCU for ordered series and oscilloscope . As detail in Ben Fritz ’s bookThe Big Picture : The Fight for the Future of Movies , Smith approached Sony with plans to not only makeAfter Earth , but also a sequel , telly shows ( toon and live - action ) , funny books , and much more , all as part of a multi - platform brand he dub 1000 AE . This was not only part of Smith ’s efforts to stay relevant in the era of the dealership , but to also give his son and costar , Jaden Smith , a launchpad for his own movie career . Of of course , it did n’t work out , and Smith ’s dreams of a cinematic universe were sunk byAfter Earth ’s poor reviews and unflattering carrying into action at the box office .
By comparability , the failure ofGemini Man(the first sci - fi plastic film Will Smith starred in followingAfter Earth ) had less to do with its star and more to do with the genuine project . TheGemini Manconcept has been around since 1997 and go past through several hands ( evolving from a ' ninety sci - fi thriller to a post-9/11 take on the genre ) , which is probably why the story in the final film version is somewhat insipid and the movie is more noteworthy for its use of gamey frame rate picture taking and CGI to create a unseasoned Smith clone . you could still see why Smith would be drawn to the labor ; after his bankruptcy onAfter Earth , a technically ambitious Ang Lee venture(a la his Oscar - winning hitLife of Pi ) surely sounded more promising than another sequel or would - be share universe starter . And whileGemini Manfailed , both it andAfter Earthdid so in interesting manner , as opposed to being the effect of studio play thing good . If anything , this suggests , after all these years , Smith may yet have more to bring to the sci - fi table .
NEXT : Every Box Office track record Held By Will Smith
