“Joker” gave a jolt to last weekend’s box office with $96.2 million in the fifth-largest domestic opening of 2019 — achieved amid worries about the potential violence that the film’s dark themes might evoke. Why Gemini Man’s failure is such a missed opportunity. Ang Lee's Gemini Man, which stars Will Smith facing off against a younger version of himself, continues to disappoint at the box office. For the record, Gemini Man didn’t bomb because of its high-frame-rate or its CGI double Will Smith, but rather because an overfocus on those elements took time, money and imagination away from making a movie that would have been more entertaining for audiences who just wanted a big Will Smith action movie. Action

“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. The problem is that, because Ang Lee and friends are trying to craft something specifically tailored to the 120-fps format, a format that, by the way, very few people will be able to sample, Gemini Man became an oddly buttoned-down, small-scale and dramatically stilted actioner. And for those who just wanted a big-budget Will Smith action thriller, its bells and whistles went toward creating a less satisfying movie than merely casting a young look-a-like. Read Next: ‘Rocky’ and ‘Legally Blonde’ in Concert Series Coming in 2021 (EXCLUSIVE), Steven Soderbergh Adds David Harbour, Noah Jupe, Brendan Fraser as Crime Drama ‘No Sudden Move’ Goes Back Into Production, Writers Guild of America Schedules Awards Show for March 21, ‘Avatar 2’ Has Filming Finished, ‘Avatar 3’ Is 95% Complete, James Cameron Says, Megan Thee Stallion Responds to Tory Lanez's Denial That He Shot Her, ‘Batwoman’ Star Javicia Leslie Unveils First Look at Batsuit, BTS to Release New Album, ‘BE (Deluxe Edition),’ in November, ‘The Witcher’ Recasts Eskel Role With Basil Eidenbenz for Season 2, Takeuchi Yuko Death Remains a Mystery for Japan, Chadwick Boseman Gave Some of His ’21 Bridges’ Salary to Co-Star Sienna Miller, Roku Unveils Redesigned $100 Ultra Streaming Box, Will Add Ability to Stream HBO Max via Apple AirPlay, Takeuchi Yuko, Japanese Actress, Dies at 40, Anita Hill Believes Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Replacement ‘Is a Rush,’ Compares Her Legacy to Thurgood Marshall, Trump's Tax Returns Reveal Struggling Businesses but Big Windfall From ‘The Apprentice’, Trump's Tax Returns Reveal Struggling Businesses But Big Windfall From ‘The Apprentice’, Tenet’ Crosses $280 Million Worldwide, Leads Mild U.S. ... box office … Latest Updates: That’s far above a trio of new entries, led by animated comedy “The Addams Family” with about $30 million at 4,007 venues — above the high end of forecasts. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. © IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Insgesamt verzeichnet „Gemini Man“ einschließlich Sonntag laut Box Office Mojo weltweit bisher nur Einnahmen in Höhe von 118,7 Millionen Dollar. News | 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). Obviously, the movie is the movie, but I would argue the things that made the movie as expensive as it was were not the things that made it more commercially viable. It has even eclipsed the performance of the high-budget Justice League, which brought in a disappointing $657 million. Through Sunday, however, Gemini Man's foreign tally stood at an underwhelming $82.2 million. Showdowns. My outlets for film criticism, box office commentary, and film-skewing scholarship have included The Huffington Post, Salon, and Film Threat. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. MPAA PG-13.

“Gemini Man” launched with $1.6 million at 3,000 North American sites in Thursday night preview screenings, similarly to Brad Pitt’s “Ad Astra,” which earned $1.5 million from Thursday previews before opening with $19 million. It’s neat/noteworthy that Ang Lee chose to both make a movie starring a CGI double of “young Will Smith” and shoot that movie in the ultra-detailed (and thus visually unforgiving) 120 fps. There are fewer and fewer moviegoers who will show up for a star-driven, original, adult-skewing studio programmer.

The ultra-high frame rate proved an issue, however, as Business Insider reported that not a single theater in the U.S. was able to play the film as Lee had intended. Moreover, Hollywood productions, even co-productions like Abominable, have struggled in China this year outside of the superhero genre (and Hobbs & Shaw). Thriller.

Maybe if the film had worked better as a movie, Joker had been less of an all-purpose event, the movie star+high concept formula was still viable, and/or audiences weren’t either scared off by the high frame rate or chose to give up when unable to find a participating theater near them, Gemini Man might have survived.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Will Smith in Gemini Man from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry ... [+] Bruckheimer Films. Yes, that is ironic, considering De Niro became a star (and won his first Oscar) playing “young Marlon Brando” in The Godfather Part II. I've studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years.

To most folks watching the movie in a conventional theater (or a standard 1080p Blu-Ray), the film is comparatively lacking in glossy bells and whistles and big-budget spectacle. Reviewers have been unimpressed, earning the film a 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Gemini Man.

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It put the technology above the story.

Will Smith stars in this Sci-fi action-thriller about an aging assassin who comes face to face with a younger clone of himself. “Gemini Man” kicked off at the international box office last weekend with $7 million in five markets and will expand to 54 territories, including the United Kingdom, Russia and Mexico. It’s showing plenty of traction at multiplexes with a decline of under 50%.

An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself. Release Date Oct 11, 2019. Sci-Fi

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