After spending 20 years in development hell, and being backed with an estimated $140 million budget that was utilized in part to make its star look like he was back in his Fresh Prince days, Gemini Man had a rough box office performance during its opening weekend, which will almost certainly doom any prospect of profit.
According to projections, the Will Smith-starring (and co-starring) hitman clone movie, which failed to wow critics, brought in just $20.5 million at the domestic box office over the weekend. Internationally, it pulled in another $39 million, which gives it a worldwide opening just shy of $60 million. It finished in third place at the U.S. box office, behind an impressive second week for Joker, and The Addams Family. Gemini Man marks the latest stumble for Smith, who aside from this year's Aladdin, hasn't been as big of a box office draw as he once was. That might explain why Smith is turning towards television. Earlier this week, it was reported that the actor is developing a Fresh Prince spinoff.
Smith also admitted that he has wider ambitions than just making hit movies. "More than ever, I'm seeing my role in the world as a role of service," he told Collider. "In my younger days, it was ambition. I wanted to win. I wanted to put points on the board. Now, I’m growing into a position in my life where the main question that I ask myself, before I do anything is, how is this of service to the human family. So, with that prism, I'll be making more and more decisions in my life."
As for Joker, the Joaquin Phoenix-led origin story of Batman's best villain (almost by default...apologies to Scarface and Killer Croc) once again soared, and is proving to be one of the biggest hits of the year. By the end of Sunday, it'll approach $200 million domestically, which would make it good for 8th amongst the biggest showings from movies in 2019.
