Mary Elizabeth Winstead Boards Ang Lee’s Clone Thriller Gemini Man

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

by Ben Travis |
Published on

Now that her role in Fargo is far-gone (sorry), Mary Elizabeth Winstead has lined up her next project - the female lead in Ang Lee’s forthcoming thriller Gemini Man. The Life of Pi and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director is heading into sci-fi-inflected action territory, with Winstead set to star alongside Will Smith.

The film pitches Smith as Henry, a past-his-prime assassin who has to escape from a clone of his younger self, dispatched to, well, dispatch him. Winstead will play an operative tasked with spying on Henry before teaming up with him. Clive Owen will be in villain mode as the head of the cloning facility.

If that all sounds a bit Looper-meets-Orphan Black, it’s interesting to note that Winstead apparently edged ahead of Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany for the part. Will Smith is likely to play both the older and younger versions of Henry, so expect some nifty make-up and similar de-ageing effects recently seen in Marvel films and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean.

Gemini Man comes from Paramount and Skydance, with Jerry Bruckheimer producing. Shooting is expected to begin in February, with an October 2019 release date.

Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.

Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us