CULVER CITY, Calif. – In advance of the nationwide release of After Earth, the highly anticipated film, Columbia Pictures has teamed up with Google for a live “After Earth Day” Google+ Hangout April 23 – the day after Earth Day. The Google+ Hangout brought together some of the world’s most renowned thinkers, inventors, authors, and futurists to discuss the film’s themes and the future of our planet.
The After Earth Day Google+ Hangout was moderated by futurist Ray Kurzweil, Google’s director of engineering. Joining Kurzweil was Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and the co-founder of Tesla Motors and PayPal; the environmental advocate, explorer and filmmaker Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau; NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, an Indian American astronaut and a United States Navy officer who holds the record for longest space flight by a woman; and Jaden Smith and Will Smith, the stars of After Earth.
On the literal day after Earth Day, they discussed the future that awaits the human race on Planet Earth, in the context of the overall themes of the action-adventure. After Earth will inspire a conversation focusing on the important questions we face about the present state of the planet, the future, and the environment. The participants also explored the interaction of technology development, space travel, and ecological preservation.
In After Earth, a crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.
(Opening across the Philippines on June 5, “After Earth” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.)