Will Smith played a crucial role in Tencent’s Undawn, but he couldn’t even save this $140 million disappointment.

Will Smith is an actor who has been leading Hollywood for almost 30 years now and is still not slowing down with new projects. The actor has given us some highly-rated franchises such as Men in Black and Bad Boys. He’s been a central figure in many acclaimed films and even won an Oscar for his performance in 2021’s King Richard.

Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (left) and Will Smith star in Columbia Pictures drama The Pursuit of Happiness. Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal

You’ll be shocked to know, but at some point, Smith tried to dive into the world of gaming by endorsing the survival zombie apocalypse title Undawn, where he played the lead character. Unfortunately, the game turned out to be a massive disaster and the biggest stain in Smith’s entire career.

Will Smith’s Undawn Was The Biggest Failure of the Gaming Industry

Undawn failed to impress the gaming community due to its boring gameplay. (Image via Tencent)

Developed by Tencent, Undawn is a PC and mobile title that debuted back in June 2023. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, gamers must navigate through the dark streets while adapting to their new environment. Along the way, players must face off against hostiles in the form of zombies and other creatures they must shoot down.

However, since the game’s release, it’s been bashed by the gaming community for being yet another unoriginal idea that failed to bring anything to the table. Despite the fact that it featured one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, Will Smith, the game still flopped hard.

Undawn proved to be a massive financial disaster for Tencent. According to Reuters, the game had more than 300 developers working on it and a massive budget of 1 billion yuan (around $140 million).

Even after investing all those resources, Tencent managed to pull in just $287,000 in revenue for the game. That’s just 0.2% of the title’s reported budget in a span of eight months.

To put things into perspective, it was reported that Christopher Nolan’s 2023 smash-hit Oppenheimer had an overall budget of $100 million, which makes Undawn even more expensive than an Oscar-winning movie.

Undawn‘s failure should be a big lesson for Smith to not associate himself with projects that are destined to be a bust from the right go. Maybe he could even learn a thing or two from Henry Cavill and explore the world of gaming with top developers and franchises.

Can We See Will Smith in a Grand Theft Auto Movie?

One fan has made a Grand Theft Auto movie concept trailer featuring the Hollywood actor. (Image via Rockstar Games)

In the decades since the debut of the first title in 1997, Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto franchise has become one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. GTA was and continues to be, a massive success, and the next chapter of the franchise is all set to release next year.

Despite the series’ success, we haven’t received a Grand Theft Auto movie. However, some fans have taken things upon themselves. Multiverse of Movies has pushed out an AI-generated Grand Theft Auto movie concept trailer, bringing Smith as CJ and Jackson as Officer Tenpenny, both of who were major figures in 2005’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Even though the trailer brings an emotionless AI version of Smith’s voice, it teases a star-packed film bringing in iconic actors such as Idris Elba, Rock, Woody Harrelson, Ving Rhames, and many others.

Grand Theft Auto isn’t a game that can easily be adapted like 2023’s The Last of Us and 2024’s Fallout. A lot of development needs to go into such a project, but the AI trailer above does suggest a potential path.

Getting big names such as Smith and Rock would be a crucial GTA movie. If Smith finally decides to return to the gaming industry, this should be the most obvious project for him to tackle.

With that said, do you think Undawn is the biggest failure in Smith’s career? Let us know in the comments below.