After Earth is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic 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 was co-produced by John Rusk, who was also the 1st Assistant Director on this film as well as on many other Shyamalan's films. 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 organization Ranger Corps and his son, who, after an incid