After Earth

Although not credited on the finished film, co-writer/producer Will Smith was responsible for much of the movie's direction. M. Night Shyamalan was primarily in charge of the blocking (composition of shots, placement of the camera) and the visual aspects of the film (color and design), and had actually suggested Smith for the supporting role as the father, but it was Smith who dictated the development of the story (which he originally conceived) and the on-screen action, and personally coached his own son Jaden Smith in his performance. Although both the story and acting were heavily criticized and Shyamalan decided to take the blame, Smith later shared his deep regret for involving his son in the movie: the press had released a vicious barrage of negative commentary aimed at Jayden, which hit the boy hard since he had only followed his father's instructions. Will added that Jayden understandably felt betrayed and misled for a while, and once even requested to be emancipated from his parents at age 15. He eventually decided against it.

Everything about the Ursa is nonsensical. It's a bio-engineered organism created by an alien race to kill humans, whom he can sense by its ability to perceive fear. However, aside from that, the Ursa is blind (and also apparently deaf and unable to perceive body odors unrelated to fear), which makes it an incredibly inefficient predator, in spite of its strength and speed. How is the Ursa even going to navigate a terrain? How can it find humans who are not aware of its presence and therefore not afraid of it, which would be the perfect moment for any predator to attack its preys? Giving the Ursa a sense of sight alone would have completely invalidated the main strategy against it, "ghosting".

The first part of the closing credits show a CGI globe view of the future altered Earth. There have been massive tectonic movements; South America is split in half and North Africa is connected to the East Coast of North America.

Featured in ReelzChannel Specials: Richard Roeper's Red Hot Summer (2013)