Gemini Man earned just $20.5 million domestically in its first three days, well behind reigning champion Joker ($55 million) and even new animated movie The Addams Family ($30.3 million). © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. It was also facing off against the over-performing Joker, which brought in more during its third weekend ($29.2 million) than Gemini did during its debut ($20 million). “Joker” has already become profitable for Warner Bros., which partnered with Village Roadshow and Bron on the $55 million project. Reviews have been mostly downbeat with a current 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes. So far, Gemini Man has only grossed $36.5 million domestically and $82 million overseas. Weekend | The action thriller stumbled out of the gate, and it didn't fare much better during its second weekend, either. IMDb Latest Updates: I cannot say whether a $90 million Gemini Man, with or without the frame rate (which, for the record, I quite enjoyed) that just cast Will Smith and another young black actor as “young Will Smith” would have been artistically preferable or (noting the smaller budget) more financially plausible. You may opt-out by. Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change. But theatrical moviegoing is at an impasse right now, with original, star-driven studio programmers facing an uphill battle against streaming content and the allure of branded/IP franchise fare. When the few of those get thrown off by ridiculous plots (Serenity) or divisive visuals (Gemini Man), those moviegoers are likely to just stay home next time. Your move, Avatar 2, but that’s a conversation for another time. It’ll be another strike against Will Smith’s star power outside of a “safe” franchise/IP play. Gemini Man (2019) An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself. Adam DeVine’s artificial intelligence comedy “Jexi” is showing little traction with about $3 million at 3,600 screens. The former brought in just over $1.2 million from just 33 theaters, while the latter took in $419k from eight theaters. 2020 Action 16 VL 120 min. Why Gemini Man’s failure is such a missed opportunity. Will Smith stars in this Sci-fi action-thriller about an aging assassin who comes face to face with a younger clone of himself. Pre-release forecasts had placed “Gemini Man” between $24 million and $29 million from 3,642 venues. I've studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. under which this service is provided to you. Follow me at @ScottMendelson and "like" The Ticket Booth on Facebook. You may opt-out by. It hasn’t performed much better overseas, where it has earned $59 million worldwide after opening in around 85% of its eventual foreign markets. © IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Is this a double dose of adrenalin? An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself. Will Smith is now a “regular” movie star. Yes, that is ironic, considering De Niro became a star (and won his first Oscar) playing “young Marlon Brando” in The Godfather Part II. By spending $138 million on what is essentially, quality notwithstanding, a small-scale Lionsgate Premiere-scaled action thriller, Paramount, Skydance and friends have done more than just create a financially impossible version of Gemini Man. Will Smith versus Will Smith in 'Gemini Man', Ang Lee and Will Smith’s Gemini Man, an ambitious, original but poorly reviewed sci-fi flick, opened with just $20.5 million in domestic box office this weekend. I have extensively written about all of said subjects for the last 11 years. Moreover, the choice to go with “young Will Smith,” which is part of what made it so expensive, didn’t make Gemini Man a better or more commercial film. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. “Jexi” is opening amid modest expectations in the $2 million to $7 million range. We’d get the same “tortured hitman comes face-to-face with a younger version of himself” story, but without the bells and whistles necessary to essentially create a CGI double of “young Will Smith.” Moreover, we’d spend more of the movie just engaged in the characters (and action), including the performance of whoever played the clone, as opposed to implicitly judging each shot of “Junior” in terms of whether it passed the uncanny valley of the smell test. “Gemini Man” debuts at 3,642 locations, with more than a third of those screening the film in high frame rate 3D+ format, employed by director Ang Lee to show Smith alongside a younger clone of himself.