It’s always a surprise to see which films might have a second life years after their release. Especially when said films might have also been box office bombs at the time of their release. One particular box office bomb, however, is known for being incredibly ambitious – and it’s currently making a comeback on Netflix.
This film, directed by Ang Lee and released in 2019, had a budget of $138 million. A large portion of this budget went towards its use of digital effects to de-age its lead star for a dual role, and furthermore, an experimental frame rate of 120 frames per second. While the film was ambitious, it didn’t exactly pay off.
With a budget of close to $140 million, it only grossed $173.5 million at the box office. As such, it was a monumental box office bomb. Now, the film is doing numbers in 2024 by becoming the number three movie on Netflix at the time of this writing.
The film, titled Gemini Man, stars none other than Will Smith in the aforementioned dual role. He plays a version of himself that’s 51-years-old, and a clone that happens to be half his age. As such, one can imagine how much of a role CGI played in creating the clone of Smith’s character Henry Brogan.
In addition to Smith, the cast of the film includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong. Interestingly, the screenplay can be traced back as far as 1997, with numerous directors and stars having been attached over the years. Ultimately, it was the version with Will Smith that finally got made, with David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke credited for the film’s screenplay from a story penned by Lemke and Benioff.
Of course, in the same way that it took years to finally get made, it looks like Gemini Man could very well find an audience – it’s merely taking time to reach new viewers. With its availability on platforms including Netflix, however, it could be only a matter of time before the box office bomb Gemini Man is considered an underappreciated fan-favorite.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the latest trending titles on Netflix as we have them. As for now, subscribers can check out Gemini Man on the streaming platform and see if the film is worth reevaluating now that several years have passed since its initial release.