Gemini Man is a 2019 American science fiction action thriller film[1] directed by Ang Lee.

It stars Will Smith in the main dual role, alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen and Benedict Wong.

The film follows a retiring Force Recon Marine scout sniper who is targeted by a much younger clone of himself while on the run from a corrupt private military company.

Originally conceived in 1997 by screenwriter Darren Lemke, the film spent nearly twenty years in development hell.

The film received generally negative reviews from critics for its plot and screenwriting, although the performances and action sequences were praised.

Henry's spotter warns him of a young girl approaching the target, causing him to delay his shot until the last second, shooting the man in the neck despite aiming for his head.

Henry calls Lassiter, who agrees to send Junior to bring Danny safely back to the United States.

They manage to mortally wound him, and he is discovered to be another youthful clone of Henry, lacking all emotion and ability to feel pain.

Defeated, Clay tries to justify his actions to Junior: clones with Henry's skills would spare the lives of soldiers while making operations incredibly successful.

In 1997, Darren Lemke sold his pitch for Gemini Man after impressing Don Murphy with an unproduced spec script.

[11] The producers toyed with the idea of an actor play both roles through the use of visual effects, but Scott moved on from the film before any progress could be made.

[15] In November 2000, the film was retitled to Gemini and was reportedly slotted for a summer 2002 release with Murphy, Jerry Bruckheimer and Jane Hamsher producing.

[17][18] By February 2009, Curtis Hanson entered talks to direct the film while David Benioff had penned the latest draft of the script.

[30][31] The visual effects are provided by Weta Digital and supervised by Bill Westenhofer and Guy Williams,[32] with support from Park Road Post, Universal Production Partners (UPP), Scanline VFX, Legend3D, Inc., The Third Floor, Inc., East Side Effects, Clear Angle Studios and Stereo D.[citation needed] Gemini Man was released in the United States on October 11, 2019, by Paramount Pictures.

[36][37] In the United States and Canada, Gemini Man was released alongside The Addams Family and Jexi, and was originally projected to gross $24–29 million from 3,642 theaters in its opening weekend.

[41] In China, Gemini Man debuted to $21 million, less than expected, getting upset by fellow new release Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Gemini Man's impressive visuals are supported by some strong performances, but this sci-fi thriller is fatally undermined by a frustratingly subpar story.

"[42] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

[39] Variety's Peter DeBruge called the film "a high-concept misfire" and wrote: "In practice, it's been a nearly impossible project to get made, passing through the hands of countless actors and falling through multiple times because the technology wasn't there yet.

[49] Smith received a nomination for Best Motion Capture/Special Effects Performance at the Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2019.