#GeminiMan: Will Smith takes on his younger self in ground-breaking new sci-fi movie

Ang Lee's new flick 'Gemini Man' is set to be the next big thing, thanks to CGI de-ageing technology

Will Smith faces off against his younger self in new Ang Lee sci-fi film 'Gemini Man'. Getty Images

Ang Lee's new science-fiction thriller, Gemini Man, is like a Face Off between 50-year-old Will Smith and 23-year-old Will Smith. An Independence Day where he's both the saviour and the alien. It's post-apocalyptic I Am Legend, where the only thing the protagonist needs to be afraid of, is himself.

No wonder it's trending.

Two days ago, the world premiere of the trailer was released by Will Smith and Paramount Pictures – and it got people talking. "You saw it here first," says Smith in the opening clip. "From the visionary mind of Ang Lee," it states. He's the director behind films such as Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain, both of which he bagged Oscars for. So perhaps that's not such a impossible claim.

Watch the full trailer here:

There's also the fact that Smith is playing his older and younger self, and, as the trailer shows, that, too, is not an impossibility, thanks to very clever CGI de-ageing technology. Watching younger Smith, you almost feel like you've been transported back to the '90s, watching Bad Boys, Men in Black, even the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

A version of Alphaville's Forever Young plays over the top – "Do you really want to live forever?" it asks. Clearly, this is no standard action flick, but an intelligent sci-fi thriller with underlying themes of existentialism. But we'll have to wait until October to find out, as that's when the movie will be released.

"The emotional and physical challenges of making this film have been the most demanding of my career," Smith said in a statement. "Lee is pushing the limits to give people an experience in the movie theatre that you can't get anywhere else.

"This is not only an action film, but an exploration of what one's younger self can ultimately teach one's older self. I'm 50 years old now, and the irony of becoming 23-year-old Junior in this film is that 23-year-old me wouldn't have been ready for this experience or to take on this role."

Naturally, people on social media had plenty of jokes and jabs to make.

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