After Earth PosterAfter the spectacular success and acclaim to father son duo Will and Jaden Smith post their first outing ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, the superstar will yet again set the screen ablaze as talented Indian origin director M. Night Shyamalan’s (The Sixth Sense, Signs) ‘After Earth’ releases on 7th June in India!

A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.

‘After Earth’ begins more than one thousand years in the future – in fact, one thousand years after humanity was forced to abandon the only home they had ever known.  “Earth just gave up on humans,” says Jaden Smith, who stars as Kitai Raige, a young man forced to navigate the harsh terrain left behind when his spacecraft crashes on the forbidden planet.  Kitai’s father, Cypher Raige – played by Jaden Smith’s father, Will Smith – became a legendary general in the United Ranger Corps, creating a legacy that Kitai is determined to emulate. Cypher returns home from another long stint of service to learn that Kitai’s intense desire to succeed has led to recklessness, causing him to fail his first attempt to become a Ranger.  In an attempt to bridge the rift between father and son, says Will Smith, “Kitai’s mother suggests that Cypher take him on a trip – spend some time together, bonding.  But our ship crash-lands in the most inhospitable place in the universe for human beings – which is Earth.”

In the film, everything on Earth has evolved to kill human beings.  With his father trapped in the wrecked ship, Kitai will have to brave these After Earthelements – and numerous highly evolved species – if he and his father are to have any chance of returning home.

“What I thought was really interesting about this film was that it’s huge in scope, but it comes down to a simple idea that every person in the audience can relate to: it’s a father and son story,” says Will Smith.  “I think that’s what audiences will really connect with – seeing the father try to connect with the son, to teach him, with life-or-death consequences.”

Jaden Smith, now just 14 years old, has already made his mark as a leading man.  He first starred on screen opposite his father in The Pursuit of Happyness, receiving acclaim for his performance.  He would follow that with a supporting role in The Day the Earth Stood Still and a leading role opposite Jackie Chan in the worldwide hit The Karate Kid.

M Night ShyamalanHelming the ambitious film is Indian origin and Hollywood stalwart M.Night Shyamalan who has mastered films of this genre.

“Night is a master of building suspense and fear,” Will Smith says, explaining why Shyamalan was the perfect choice for After Earth.  “If there were a single thing that I would say is clearly Night’s genius, it’s how to take a single, still image and terrify you with it.  There can be no movement – nothing happening, really – and still, you’re riveted.  He is so good at setting the shot, setting the lighting, and setting the moment.”

Speaks the director on the film, “I’m fascinated by the question of why human beings fear the unknown. In our earliest days as cave-people, that was really important – fear could keep us safe.  Fear could keep you alive.  But now, we’ll fear a new job or a new relationship, because we don’t know what’s going to happen – and that’s not necessarily a good thing.  Playing with that in a movie is a fun thing, and in this movie, it’s about a father teaching a son how to overcome that.  It’s a wonderful lesson, because if you can learn how to control your fear of the unknown, you can do anything.”