Clive Owen joins the cast of Ang Lee’s Gemini Man opposite Will Smith
Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media have cast Clive Owen (Closer, Children of Men) in their upcoming film Gemini Man, according to Variety. The science fiction actioner is directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi) and stars Will Smith (I Am Legend, Independence Day) in dual roles. From David Benioff (Game of Thrones), comes the story of an older NSA agent who is trying to retire. He’s marked for death and learns that the man out to kill him is a younger cloned version of himself.
Clive Owen’s role is being described as an antagonist, but there is no other information at the moment. According to the site, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Fargo, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Eastern Promises) are up for another lead role.
The rights to Gemini Man were acquired by Skydance after having been in development for two decades. Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Amazing Race) is producing with Don Murphy set to serve as executive producer.
Gemini Man was originally set at Walt Disney PIctures in 1997 from a Darren Lemki pitch, but wasn’t able to be made as the VFX were not yet ready to use the same actor for both roles. There were a number of version of the script from Brian Helgeland and Andrew Niccol and, at one point, the late Tony Scott was in the running to direct.
Ang Lee is known for his work on films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and won Best Foreign Language Film. Lee was nominated for Best Director for the film. He’s also known for Life of Pi, which was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Director, as well as Brokeback Mountain, which won Lee another Best Director Oscar.
Will Smith is known for films like Men in Black, I Am Legend and Independence Day. Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in the films Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness.
Are you guys excited for Gemini Man? What do you think of the casting of Clive Owen? Let us know in the comments. The film will hit theaters on October 4, 2019.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)