Watch a de-aged Will Smith play a 23-year-old in the trailer for Gemini Man


After Captain Marvel, the trend of digitally de-aging actors several decades continues with Ang Lee's latest film.
In the upcoming science-fiction film Gemini Man, the first trailer for which was released on Tuesday, Will Smith stars as an assassin who is targeted by a younger clone of himself. The 50-year-old actor plays both the older assassin at his current age, as well as the 23-year-old clone.
Smith was digitally de-aged almost 30 years for the movie, and he has said that the "physical challenges of making this film have been the most demanding of my career," per Entertainment Weekly. This young version of Smith will be front-and-center throughout, with the film's VFX supervisor having said he's in "400-plus scenes in over half the movie," per IndieWire.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This trailer comes shortly after Marvel used digital effects to make Samuel L. Jackson look about 25 years younger as Nick Fury in Captain Marvel, with the studio previously utilized de-aging in films like Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button also made use of de-aging in 2008.
Gemini Man, which hits theaters in October, won't even be the only film of the fall to make use of de-aging technology. Martin Scorsese's The Irishman will be de-aging its cast, which includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, for flashback scenes that evidently comprise about half the movie. All this digital work adds up, with The Irishman's budget having reportedly skyrocketed past $140 million.
Check out the first footage of the de-aged Smith in the trailer below. Brendan Morrow
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia