Ang Lee, the director of Will Smith’s upcoming movie ‘Gemini Man’ is bemoaning the fact that modern cinemas can’t keep up with his vision for the film. We already know that he has pushed the boundaries of CG special effects and motion capture technology to bring his film to life. Specifically, Smith plays both himself and a very-much-younger-clone-self, with the intent to be a flawless integration of the two characters on screen.
When Lee shot the film, he intended for it to be viewed in 120 frames-per-second high frame rate 4K 3D format. Unfortunately for him, and even more for us, there are no “normal” movie theaters in the United States that have the technology to show the film. It reminds me of how George Lucas invented THX sound systems for movie theaters to ensure they they could keep up with the soundscapes he created in ‘Return of the Jedi.’ Except in this case, we’re all just out of luck since it doesn’t look like Lee is going to be selling the tech to the big theaters ahead of time for us.
Lee explained why he chose such a high framerate:
“You get people excited, I think it’s the detail [you] get to see it. I think that’s new a kind of filmmaking, and I think it’s this kind of staging [frontal], in and out of the perspective, a first-person-third-person kind of exchange. It’s a different kind of language, involvement, for both the filmmaker and the viewer.”
It looks like the best we can hope for is 3D with 120 high frame rate in 2K, and even then it’s just 14 AMC theaters across the country (see below). Perhaps this will be one of those movies that stands up well to time and it’ll be released in the distant future when the tech has caught up so we can see it the way Lee intended.
AMC Aventura Mall 24 – Miami, FL
AMC Century City 15 – Los Angeles, CA
AMC Del Amo 18 – Los Angeles, CA
AMC Disney Springs 24 – Orlando, FL
AMC Elmwood Palace 20 – New Orleans, LA
AMC Flatiron Crossing 14 – Denver, CO
AMC Hawthorn 12 – Chicago, IL
AMC Lincoln Square 13 – New York, NY
AMC Metreon 16 – San Francisco, CA
AMC North Point 12 – Atlanta, GA
AMC River East 21 – Chicago, IL
AMC Town Square 18 – Las Vegas, NV
AMC White Marsh 16 – Baltimore, MD
AMC Willowbrook 24 – Houston, TX
SOURCE: Slash Film
