Actor Will Smith found himself in a copyright lawsuit related to the 2019 film Gemini Man, directed by Ang Lee. According to In Touch, a federal judge has thrown out all the claims against him in a case filed by sci-fi writer Kissinger Sibanda.

Will Smith finds some peace

The article mentioned that they got their hands on court documents related to the copyright lawsuit. Although the judge didn’t throw out the whole case, he did dismiss the claims against Will on January 31. Kissinger is suing Will, Skydance Productions, Gemini Pictures, Paramount Pictures, David Ellison, and a few other companies for $1.7 million over Gemini Man. It seems the author will probably continue pursuing claims against the other defendants involved.

Something went down

Kissinger argues that Gemini Man is a knockoff of his 2011 sci-fi novel, The Return to Gibraltar. The story revolves around an African American who gets cloned and is part of a time-travel program without his consent. He mentioned that Gemini Man has been in development limbo since 1997, with different actors initially considered for the lead role before it eventually went to Will. Kissinger also stated that he shared a copy of his book with Will’s stunt double back in 2012, but he couldn't remember the double's name.

In his lawsuit, he claims that copies of his book were sent to some of the top talent agencies in Hollywood. He argues that before his book was published, the filmmakers had a tough time getting the project off the ground, but after his release, they borrowed ‘themes, plots, characters, context, and cultural subtexts’ from his work, including the fact that the main character is a Harvard graduate.

Background of the case

Kissinger said he sent them a legal letter back in 2020, but they never replied. Fast forward to November 2024, and Will along with the production companies finally responded to the lawsuit. They pointed out that Kissinger had already tried to sue before with the same claims, which were thrown out. Interestingly, Will wasn’t part of that earlier lawsuit, and the court dismissed it because the author didn’t register his copyright before taking action. Just a week later, the author filed a new complaint.

As for Gemini Man, it had a budget of $138 million, not counting marketing, and ended up making $173 million globally.

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