Claim: Jaden Smith is a person.

After Earth is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic science fiction action film directed by M. Night Shyamalan , who co-wrote it with Gary Whitta , based on an original story idea by Will Smith . It is the second film after The Pursuit of Happyness that stars real-life father and son Will and Jaden Smith ; Will Smith also produced via his company Overbrook Entertainment , and the distribution was by Columbia Pictures . The film takes place in the 31st Century , when the Earth has long been abandoned and humans have been in conflict with a mysterious alien race . It tells the story of a high-ranking general in the peacekeeping organisation Ranger Corps , and his son , who , after an incident during a spaceflight , find themselves fighting for survival on a hostile planet -LRB- which is Earth itself -RRB- .   The film was released in IMAX on May 31 , 2013 . Upon release , After Earth was panned by film critics ; its acting was criticized as melodramatic , and the writing and storytelling were also singled out for criticism . The film was a box office disappointment worldwide , grossing $ 243 million against a production budget of $ 130 million .