Hard to launch new films in Hollywood today: 'Gemini Man' producer Jerry Bruckheimer

Veteran Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, known for some of the biggest action hits such as "Top Gun", "Bad Boys" and "The Pirates of the Caribbean" series, says making movies is "a luck of the draw" and it is hard to predict what the audience will embrace. The producer says he stuck with "Gemini Man" as he believed it was an original idea in an era where studios prefer to fall back on something that is "pre-sold".

"It's much hard to launch them, to create a new IP. So they'd rather fall back on something that's slightly easier, something that's pre-sold. And that's just the way the world is today," Bruckheimer told PTI in an interview. The producer, whose films "Top Gun" and "Bad Boys" are returning with respective sequels next year, is not averse to franchises provided they are done well.

"It depends on how well you do the sequels. If it's really good, they're going to love it. It all depends on the screenplay, the directors, the actors and the people who put it together. It's the combination of everything," he added. Bruckheimer, 76, says as a filmmaker one tries to put their best foot forward and the rest depends on the audience's response. He hopes people will like his latest endeavour, which released in India on October 11.

"You just try to make films that are accessible to audiences. You can't win all the time, nobody does. But we put our best foot forward to try to entertain audiences and sometimes they embrace movies, sometimes they don't. It's just the luck of the draw. "Hopefully, this one will excite them to come to see this new technology, great performance, and terrific director," Bruckheimer says while social media has shortened the shelf life of a film, newer markets have opened up for Hollywood.

"It just took a little longer to find out what the audiences felt about it. Now it's instant. Before, pictures had a weekend to survive... But it's a bigger worldwide market (now). A lot of markets, they were never open to us to put our movies in. Some of the movies that were made in the past weren't released in a lot of countries. Now there are maybe five or six countries that don't release our movies," he said. Bruckheimer, who has worked with some of the biggest stars in his career, is all praise for Will Smith's dual turn in the film and the technical marvel that Ang Lee has created by introducing a 100 percent digitally-made human.

"Ang did an amazing job and it is a great performance, Academy-worthy performance by Will, who plays the two characters flawlessly. It's just such hard work on his part to constantly flip back and forth between Junior and Henry." Asked whether he would like a sequel to "Gemini Man", the producer said, "It's difficult to make but I would do it all over again."

Distributed exclusively in India by Viacom18, the Paramount Pictures movie also stars Clive Owen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Benedict Wong.

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