Will Smith had the biggest hit on his career with the live-action adaptation of Aladdin but his latest release, Gemini Man, looks to be one of his biggest misfires.
Directed by Ang Lee, Gemini Man faces losses of $75 million or more after opening to $20.5 million domestically over the October 11-13 frame and finishing Sunday with a soft worldwide total of $118.7 million, according to sources and box office analysts. The hope was that the film would make up some ground when it was released in China but it launched to just $21 million over the weekend, coming in behind Maleficent: Mistress of Evil ($22.4 million) in a surprise upset.
The cost roughly $140 million to make and has only grossed $36.5 million at the domestic box office. The good news, if there is any, is that the loss will be spread between David Ellison’s Skydance Media, Paramount Pictures and two China-based companies, Fosun and Alibaba. Paramount and Skydance each put up 35 percent of the budget (the former’s losses could be minimized when recouping its distribution fee). Fosun, which is distributing Gemini Man in China, has a 25 percent stake, followed by 5 percent for Alibaba
Gemini Man showed early promise and gained some hype based on Lee’s use of groundbreaking de-aging and high frame rate technology. Paramount saw that hype slip when reviews started pouring in starting in late September which eventually registered a very poor 25% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. This likely hurt its box office potential with some box office analysts suggesting that the staying power of Joker also put a dent in Gemini Man’s numbers.
Paramount and Skydance are back in theaters next month with the James Cameron-produced reboot Terminator: Dark Fate on November 1 and judging from the first reactions that hit this morning, they might have much better luck with that film.
