The Adam Project

Shawn Levy’s 2022 film sat on a shelf for years. T. S. Nowlin’s spec script, then titled Our Name Is Adam, went to Paramount in 2012 with Tom Cruise for the lead. Netflix took it over in mid 2020 and Jonathan Tropper wrote the shooting draft over earlier passes by Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin. Filming ran in Vancouver from November 2020 to March 2021. The real trick is the resemblance between the two Adams, built at the casting table. Walker Scobell came out of a field of hundreds on his Reynolds impression, never having acted before. De-ageing went to Catherine Keener alone: Lola VFX shot those scenes with Keener and a body double, took her into their Egg rig in Los Angeles to redeliver the lines under LEDs programmed to match the set light, then projected her head onto the double. Jets, dogfight and car chase went to DNEG, weapons, cloaking and lab to Scanline. Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo play Adam’s parents, last paired in 13 Going on 30 in 2004. Netflix’s own Top 10 bulletin reported 92.43 million hours viewed in the debut week, a figure the provider measured. A good fit if you watch knowing the two Adams were matched by casting, not effects. Not for anyone who drops out when Keener’s de-aged face appears.