All eyes will be on M. Night Shyamalan when his latest film, AFTER EARTH, hits theaters next year. It will be his first time directing someone else’s screenplay, even though we’ve been telling him for years that he’d be doing us all a favor if he’d kindly throw his laptop out the window. The man has talent behind the camera, I still believe that, but he wore out his welcome as a writer long, long ago.
AFTER EARTH is also functioning as something of a vanity project for Will and Jaden Smith; the father son duo will be on the big screen together for the first time, with the younger Smith taking the lead while pop sits out most of the film… at least, that’s what we can gather from this newly-released synopsis:
In After Earth, one thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (played by Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (played by Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.
That’s all well and good, but… Cypher Raige? Really, y’all, you’re going with Cypher Raige..? Maybe M. Night should get back to typing, after all. (Thankfully there’s still time to dub in a new name.)
AFTER EARTH will be a presence at this month’s San Diego Comic-Con, which kicks off a little under two weeks from now.
The “other” Smith…