The new trailer for Will Smith's Gemini Man (seriously) features a song by Jaden Smith. Directed by Academy Award winner Ang Lee, Gemini Man stars the elder Smith as Henry Brogen, an aging assassin who finds himself hunted by a younger clone of himself, dubbed Junior (also played by Will Smith). Always one to push the boundaries of moviemaking technology, Lee and his team incorporated state-of-the-art visual effects to make Will Smith appear younger so he could portray both characters. Based on the footage unveiled so far, the technology is very convincing and the artists have done a great job recreating Smith's appearance from decades ago.
Set for release in October, Paramount already kicked off the Gemini Man marketing campaign earlier this year. The first trailer made its way online shortly after CinemaCon in April, giving viewers a taste of the premise. Now, another theatrical preview has been released, and the Fresh Prince isn't the only member of the Smith family included in it.
Yes, the Gemini Man trailer is set to the song "Icon" by Will's son Jaden. The younger Smith's most popular song originally appeared on his debut album Syre in 2017. In the U.S., the single went platinum.
The track's line, "I am just an icon living" is repeated throughout the trailer, tying somewhat into the overall story. Will's Henry is established as being the best in his craft (which is why he was chosen for the cloning program in the first place), making him an icon of sorts in this film's universe. There's also the obvious meta component at play here; Gemini Man is about the older Will battling against the younger Will, so it reads as an amusing choice by the marketing team to use a song by Will's son as the trailer soundtrack. Some might find this aspect of the preview a tad eye-rolling, but it works for the purposes of the trailer. The catchy beat complements the action bits, selling Gemini Man as an exciting sci-fi thriller.
UPDATE: The second Gemini Man trailer uses "Forever Young" by Ursine Vulpine.
Will Smith's 2019 is already going pretty well, seeing that Aladdin recently became the highest-grossing movie of his career. He's hoping that hot streak continues with Gemini Man, and working with an interesting auteur such as Lee should help matters. Granted, sometimes Lee comes up short in his ambitions (see: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk), but he typically has a sharp eye for visuals and is one of the more fascinating directors working today. Lee's career has spanned multiple genres and most of those movies can be considered a success, so it'll be intriguing to see what he lends to sci-fi.
