In case you missed it in October theaters, Gemini Man, starring Will Smith as a hitman targeted by a younger clone of himself, is out on DVD/Blu Ray in December (shot from the film seen here). At a press conference for Gemini Man, Smith talked about the types of parts that are next for him as he ages.

“I turned 51 last week [his birthday is September 25], and I’m experiencing a transition in my life. More than ever, I’m seeing my role in the world as one of service. In my younger days, it was ambition. I wanted to win…I wanted to put points on the board,” he acknowledged. “Now, I’m going to a position in life where the main question I ask myself before I do anything is ‘How is this of service to the human family?’”

Asked for specifi cs, Smith said, “I love science fiction. I love fi lmmaking,” then expressed a wish to reach out to “a new generation…the next generation of artists and fi lmmakers. I’m just trying to fi gure out how to make everything I do conscious and thought out and be of some justifi able service.”

A FRESH TEST OF WITS
National Geographic Channel is bringing back its most popular series, Brain Games, and in a new format a combo of celebrities, mental dexterity, and a live studio audience.

The reboot is hosted by Keegan Michael Key, co-creator and co-star of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele series, among many other big and small screen credits.

“We had discussed this about a year ago, and it was one of the fastest ‘Yes!’s I’ve said in my career of late…really,” Key told us. “I’m fascinated by brain chemistry, brain psychology, neuro science. These are things that are very interesting to me, so it was really a bit of a no brainer [laughs].”

Among the celebrity guests in the series will be married couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, Anthony Anderson, Rebel Wilson, Ted Danson, Mark Cuban, Jack Black, and Meghan Trainor.
Brain Games premieres on Nat Geo on December 1st.

10 YEARS OF TWINKLE
The year end holiday season brings dozens of festive movies from Hallmark Channel. This year, the network is celebrating 10 years of “Countdown to Christmas,” a program event that last year attracted a whopping 85 million viewers. We won’t give away vital plot details, but scripts typically have a “girl meets guy, then life changes” scenario.

Among the highlights: Lacey Chabert and Sam Page finding love in Christmas in Rome (premieres November 30th); Christmas Town, starring Hallmark regular Candace Cameron Bure (December 1st); and crooner Kristin Chenoweth and Scott Wolf starring in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of A Christmas Love Story (December 7th).

Seen here are Merritt Patterson and Andrew Cooper from Christmas at the Palace. There will also be two Hanukkah themed movies, one of which, Holiday Date, stars Brittany Bristow and Matt Cohen.

SHAQ’S NEW GIG
As Carnival Cruise Line’s “Chief Fun Officer,” NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal, was recently at The Grove in L.A. to promote the arrival of Carnival Panorama, the line’s first new ship on the West Coast in 20 years, which begins sailing from Southern California in December. A stunning 133,500 gross tons, she is 1,055 feet long (just 50 feet shorter than a Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier) with a 122 foot beam, cruises at 23 knots, and has capacity for 4,008 passengers and 1,450 crewmembers. When he’s not sailing the high seas, the dynamic sports hero and analyst is a busy guy in other respects, including fi lming his latest reality series, TNT’s Shaq Life, as well as looking after his restaurant and other brands (including Big Chicken), and even touring as a DJ.

“I am looking forward to [Shaq Life],” he told us. “You can expect a lot of fun, knowledge about the game [of basketball], silliness, and hard work!”

THE ULTIMATE Q&A
YouTube Originals and Vox Media Studios have launched a new learning series, Glad You Asked, during which viewers find answers to some of life’s most fascinating questions.

Queries such as “Why do we cry?” and “What happens when we die?”… even “Will human beings survive Mars?” will be among those Vox’s team of four producer hosts (Joss Fong, Alex Clark, Christophe Haubursin, and Cleo Abramresearch) research and response to all plucked from YouTube’s most searched and interesting interrogatories. Using a variety of experts and traveling to various locations around the globe, the docu series takes viewers on fascinating journeys of discovery.

Episodes 1 5 began airing on the Vox YouTube channel and on YouTube.com/Learning starting October 8, episodes 6 10 will debut weekly beginning January 8.