Actor Will Smith has been cleared of all claims in a copyright lawsuit related to his 2019 sci-fi film Gemini Man. According to In Touch, a federal judge dismissed the allegations against Will on January 31. However, the case isn’t over yet—author Kissinger Sibanda is continuing his $1.7 million lawsuit against other parties involved in the film, including Skydance Productions, Paramount Pictures, and Gemini Pictures.
The Lawsuit Explained
Kissinger Sibanda, a sci-fi writer, claims that Gemini Man stole ideas from his 2011 novel The Return to Gibraltar. The book follows an African American protagonist who is cloned and forced into a time-travel program without consent—similar to Gemini Man’s plot, in which Will Smith plays both an aging assassin and his younger clone.
The author argues that the film struggled in development since 1997 but suddenly took off after his book was released. He also claims to have shared a copy of his novel with Will Smith’s stunt double in 2012, though he cannot recall the double’s name. Additionally, Sibanda says he sent copies to a major Hollywood talent agency.
A Long Legal Battle
Sibanda first tried to sue the filmmakers in 2020 but received no response. He had previously filed a similar lawsuit, which was dismissed because he had not registered his copyright before taking legal action. In November 2024, Will Smith and the production companies denied his new claims, stating that they had already been dismissed in the past.
Despite this, the author filed another lawsuit just a week later, this time naming Will Smith. Now, while the court has removed Will from the case, the legal fight against the film’s production companies continues.
The Film’s Performance
Gemini Man had a hefty budget of $138 million (excluding marketing costs) and earned $173 million worldwide. However, it received mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office.