After Earth Information

After Earth (originally known as 1000 A.E.) is an upcoming American science-fiction thriller film co-written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starring real-life father and son Will and Jaden Smith as Cypher and Kitai Raige, with Will also acting as producer and co-writer. It will be distributed by Columbia Pictures and available on IMAX.

Synopsis

In the near future, humanity was forced to abandon the planet forever after cataclysmic events, and they reestablished mankind on the planet Nova Prime, light years away from Earth, and managed to rebuild society. Earth was left in its prime state, and continued to flourish on its own. A Ranger Corps was founded.

One thousand years later, the Ranger Corps is led by General Cypher Raige (Will Smith). His teenage son, Kitai (Jaden Smith), is one of the training recruits, but his knack for mischief frustrates Cypher, who eventually does not promote him. Seeing this as a longing for his father's love, Cypher's wife (Sophie Okonedo) tells Cypher to do some bonding with Kitai.

Taking her advice, Cypher takes Kitai on a mission trip to Earth. The ship comes into an asteroid field and crashes on Earth, killing everyone except Cypher and Kitai. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help so they can return to Nova Prime, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. The father and son must learn to work together and learn to trust one another if they want any chance of escaping Earth and returning home.

Cast

• Will Smith as Cypher Raige
• Jaden Smith as Kitai Raige
• Isabelle Fuhrman as Rayna
• Kristofer Hivju as Security Chief
• Gabriel Caste as Ranger
• Zoë Isabella Kravitz as Senshi Raige
• Sophie Okonedo as Faia Raige
• David Denman as McQuarrie
• Lincoln Lewis as Bo
• Lauryn Smith as Laila
• Abhilash Chacko as Pilot (Uncredited)

Production

Will Smith conceived this story when he was watching I Shouldn't Be Alive TV show with his brother-in-law Caleeb Pinkett. It was originally not a science fiction story but about a father and son crashing their car in the mountains or some remote region, and the son had to go out and get rescue for his father. Will Smith then decided to change the setting to a 1000 years in the future, which imposed a higher budget. Smith had his production company Overbrook contact Gary Whitta (who was then known for his script for The Book of Eli) with a simple log line for a movie: a father and son crashed landed on Earth 1000 years after it has been abandoned by humankind. Impressed with his idea and excited about the opportunity to work with him, Whitta fleshed out Smith's idea and pitched it to him, subsequently became the first employee on the project.

M. Night Shyamalan was attached to this project then entitled One Thousand A. E. as his next directorial effort, three months after the box-office success of The Last Airbender, and quietly shelving his own secret untitled project with Bruce Willis, Bradley Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow loosely attached. At the time, it was only scripted by Gary Whitta and starring Jaden Smith. There was another starring role for an adult male, but sources indicated that Will Smith is not taking it on. Sony Pictures Entertainment has a first-look deal with Overbrook, so it is expected to be the studio home for A.E.. Shyamalan later suggested the film may feature other members of the Smith family, and that it may not be in 3D but he has "an idea for something kind of technically interesting."

On April 2011, Columbia Pictures, a film studio of Sony, signed Will Smith and son Jaden Smith to star in the film with Shyamalan directing. Shymalan co-wrote the screenplay with Gary Whitta, will be producing the movie with and Overbrook's James Lassiter, Smith, Ken Stovitz and Jada Pinkett Smith. CAA repped the deal. Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, made the announcement and said "Night is an outstanding filmmaker who has a tremendous vision for this science-fiction adventure story and we couldn't be more excited to be working again with Jaden after our experiences on The Pursuit of Happyness and The Karate Kid," and added "We're thrilled to have the two of them together on this project". Shyamalan also added "The chance to make a scary, science-fiction film starring Jaden and Will is my dream project." Will Smith's decision to take on the starring adult male role required him to step aside in producing and starring Hurricane Katrina drama The American Can, and offered the lead role to Denzel Washington instead. The shooting of the movie was also pushed back from September 2011 to January 2012.

On July 25, Will Smith visited Costa Rica accompanied by an entourage of about 20 people, including Shyamalan, to scout for locations to shoot the film. They stayed at the Tabacón Grand Spa and Thermal Resort. They visited sites like the Arenal Volcano, hot springs and a lake, and some beaches. The executive secretary of the Foundation Arenal Volcano, Diego Quesada, accompanied Smith on a walk by the volcano on Monday and said "was a half hour. Talked with him and the director M. Night Shyamalan film The Sixth Sense. We were told that the park was very nice, I liked the view."

On September, Columbia committed to a June 7, 2013 release date for the movie. Shyamalan also scouted locations in Philadelphia. 50% of the filming was to take place at the new Sun Center Studios in Delaware County (Chester Township). Other locations would be in Costa Rica, Utah and Northern California. Shyamalan also visited Valley Forge Military Academy, known for the filming location for Taps, to research for the movie then entitled "After Earth", as Jaden Smith would be playing a military cadet of the future.

The screenplay by Whitta and Shyamalan was later polished by Stephen Gaghan and Mark Boal. Principal photography for After Earth began in February 2012. Much of the filming took place in Costa Rica, Humboldt County, and Aston. After Earth was shot on Sony's CineAlta F65 camera, which was shipped in January 2012.

Marketing

Initial marketing for After Earth began online with an Internet marketing campaign on Facebook and [[Google+]], including a teaser trailer. Alongside the Facebook marketing is a Web 2.0 site that lets people "scroll" through different images and paragraphs in a complex dynamic way. An image of Jaden's character in costume was released online on February 15, 2012. Later in the year, a theatrical teaser was released alongside a trailer for the competing Joseph Kosinski movie Oblivion. On March 12, 2013 a modified version of After Earth's theatrical teaser was released as the official trailer.