Will Smith and Ang Lee are coming to Disrupt SF

We’re announcing a big addition to the Disrupt SF Agenda: Will Smith and director Ang Lee will be joining us to discuss their upcoming film “Gemini Man.”

They’ve both had long careers in the movie business — Lee’s titles include “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain” (which won him an Academy Award for Best Director) and “Life of Pi” (ditto). And Smith, of course, has starred in countless box office hits, most recently “Aladdin,” while also delivering critically-acclaimed performances in films like “Ali” and “Concussion.”

But they’re not resting on their laurels. “Gemini Man” features Smith in a dual role — he plays assassin Henry Brogan, as well as Junior, a younger clone who’s been sent to kill his older self — with “jaw-dropping” effects from Weta Digital.

“Gemini Man” and Netflix’s new Martin Scorsese film “The Irishman” take different approaches (“The Irishman” uses effects to essentially de-age its actors, while “Gemini Man”‘s Junior is full CGI creation), but they both point to a new cinematic world, where stars like Smith, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino can play themselves at any age — or perhaps be otherwise transformed — without relying on younger counterparts or resorting to heavy and unconvincing layers of makeup.

We’ll talk to Lee and Smith about what it was like working with these effects, and how else they could change the way movies get made. We’ll also ask about the future of the industry, Lee’s other experiments with cutting-edge technology and Smith’s startup investments through Dreamers Fund, which he created with Japanese athlete Keisuke Honda.

Smith and Lee join an absolutely star-studded agenda that includes the likes of Marc Benioff, Evan Spiegel, Marillyn Hewson, Chris Dixon, Shan-Lyn Ma, and Ashton Kutcher in his debut as a Battlefield Finals judge.

Disrupt SF runs October 2 to October 4 at the Moscone Center in the heart of San Francisco. Tickets are available here.