Will Smith Named In 7-Figure Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement

Will Smith is facing heavy allegations of creative theft involving a whopping seven-figure amount!

The veteran actor was accused of stealing the plot for his cinema blockbuster “Gemini Man” from a science fiction book published in 2011. If found guilty, Smith will pay $1.7 million in damages, which is 10% of the $173 million the movie grossed after its release.

Will Smith was named in a lawsuit along with other film powerhouses for his 2019 movie “Gemini Man.”

The science fiction author named Kissinger Sibanda sued Smith, Skydance Productions, Gemini Pictures, Paramount Pictures, David Ellison, and various other defendants for copyright infringement.

Sibanda, who identified as an American/South African national, described himself as an attorney and a writer who wrote the novel “The Return to Gibraltar” and released it in 2011.

According to him, the book revolves around an African American who is cloned and used in a time-traveling program without his permission. He admitted to tipping Smith as a fit character to play the lead during the book’s marketing.

In Touch shared that the suit claimed that Smith then released “Gemini Man” in 2019, directed by Ang Lee. It starred other actors like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, and Benedict Wong. 

He added that “the movie follows a former hitman who is targeted by a younger clone of himself while on the run from the government. The defendants struggled to make the movie until plaintiff released his book in 2011.”

Sibanda declared that Smith changed the film’s marketing strategy right after his book dropped and went further by “taking themes, plots, characterizations, context, and cultural subtexts to create Gemini Man.”

On how Smith was able to access his book’s content, Sibanda claimed he met with Will’s stunt double in 2012, although he does not recall his actual name.

He continued that “the stunt double had recently returned from Cape Town, South Africa” when they met, adding “and limited discovery can produce the name given that defendants have all the names of Will Smith’s stunt doubles on file” in the lawsuit.

The suit explained that he also sent a copy to William Morris Endeavor, one of the largest and most influential talent agencies in Hollywood. Sibanda stated:

“The publication of The Return to Gibraltar provided a free meal for the defendants; not only did the book detail the cultural importance of the protagonist as a black person in a cinematic form but it explained cloning and its science in the context of a complete story; not just “ideas and facts” but a complete narrative pace and climax.”

He noted that the protagonist in “The Return to Gibraltar” is a Harvard man and bears a striking resemblance to the younger version of Smith cloned in “Gemini Man.”

The author added that he initially sent a legal letter to the named defendants in 2020, but he never got a response, nor did he receive any “money settlement to plaintiff, only a zero-dollar walk away.”

“Gemini Man” was originally written by Darren Lemke in 1997 and reportedly had been in development for over twenty years before its release. Per Deadline, the science fiction action thriller film featured Harry Brogan (played by Smith) and his old Army friend Clay Verris (Owen).

Verris, who operates his private assassin business, secretly extracted a sample of Brogan’s DNA 25 years earlier and created a test tube version of Brogan as his own adopted son named Junior.

Verris’s goal was to create a younger powerhouse of Brogan, who was famed for being a master sharpshooter, and eventually get rid of the OG version. The movie was set in various locations, including Colombia, Hungary, and Georgia, where the two versions of Smith engaged in hot pursuits.

Danny (played by Winstead) is Brogan’s Defense Intelligence Agency colleague who tagged along for the ride, while their pilot Baron (played by Wong) provides much-needed comic relief.

Brogan’s plan to settle down in a small village to fish after an engaging year fighting wars and crimes was rudely cut short when Verris’ plans started to yield. He was forced to pick up the weapon and end the mess once and for all.

This is not Smith’s first time in court. In a 2019 fraud lawsuit, the actor was subpoenaed to release his financial record and personal email communications with his friend Duane Martin.

The Blast reported that the trustee presiding over Martin’s bankruptcy explained that Smith had turned over email chains between him, his rep, and Martin in 2018.

They also confirmed that the multiple award-winning actor and his companies had provided their financial records according to the court order.

The email records contained their discussion about the $1.4 million loan that Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith provided Martins several years ago to purchase a home, which is now the focus of the fraud lawsuit.

The trustee noted that the most obvious evidence of Martin’s alleged misconduct can be seen in the emails where he “continued to put pressure on his friend WS to finance the transaction” while trying to acquire the loan in 2012.

The conversation also revealed that Martin and Smith discussed Martin’s plan to put the home up for sale in 2018. However, The Blast clarified that there are no allegations accusing Smith and his wife of any involvement in Martin’s alleged fraud or having any knowledge of the alleged crime.

Will Smith and the other defendants have yet to respond to Sibanda’s lawsuit, or will this be a replay of the 2020 situation?