A few days ago it was reported Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Fargo) and Elizabeth Debicki (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) were up for the lead role in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man opposite Will Smith. Now The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed which actress will star in the film: Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Gemini Man follows Will Smith as in dual roles as Henry, an aging assassin who is trying to retire but is marked for death and faced with the ultimate opponent: a clone of himself, only 25 years younger and at the peak of his abilities.
Winstead will portray Danny, an operative working for the same agency as Henry who is tasked with surveilling him, but eventually teams up with him. She beat out Maslany for the lead role.
Clive Owen (Children of Men) is currently in talks to star in the film as one of the villains. If he appears, he will play the head of the agency’s cloning program.
Gemini Man has spent the past twenty years in development hell, having first been set up at Disney in 1997 with Tony Scott directing. However, the plan to have the same actor portraying both the assassin and his younger clone via digital trickery proved very difficult due to technological limitations of the time. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing along with Skydance’s David Ellison and Dana Goldberg. Don Murphy is executive producing.
Gemini Man will be released October 4th, 2019.
Originally published January 17, 2018. Updated April 16, 2018.
