The trailer for GTA: San Andreas (2025), featuring Will Smith, opens with a breathtaking aerial shot of the familiar urban sprawl of Los Santos, surrounded by vast desert landscapes and mountains in the distance. The iconic Grove Street comes into view, and the camera pans down to reveal Carl “CJ” Johnson (played by Will Smith) stepping off a plane, returning to his hometown after years away. His voiceover sets the stage: “After all these years, coming home was the last thing I wanted to do… but family comes first.”
The trailer dives into CJ’s struggles as he reenters the chaos of Los Santos. Gang violence has intensified, and corruption is rampant, with cops like Officer Tenpenny (played by an intimidating Samuel L. Jackson) making CJ’s return all the more complicated. Quick glimpses of CJ’s crew—Big Smoke, Ryder, and Sweet—give fans a nod to the original game, but with a new modern twist. The city feels both familiar and darker, with neon lights reflecting off rain-soaked streets and graffiti tagging every corner.
The action ramps up as CJ is pulled back into the gang wars he once tried to escape. We see explosive car chases through Los Santos’ streets, CJ running from cops on motorbikes, and an epic train heist sequence. Will Smith’s CJ is seen using both brute strength and clever tactics, from fistfights in the back alleys to evading helicopter gunfire in a souped-up sports car. The dynamic between CJ and Officer Tenpenny intensifies, with Tenpenny threatening, “You think you run this city, Johnson? You don’t even know the half of it.”
The trailer highlights CJ’s internal battle as he tries to rebuild his life and take care of his family while being drawn deeper into the criminal underworld. In one emotional scene, CJ stands by his brother Sweet, looking over the Los Santos skyline, vowing to take control of their destiny: “This city took everything from us. Now, we take it back.”
The final shot features CJ standing atop a skyscraper, overlooking the chaos below, gripping a bat in one hand and a gun in the other. The title card flashes: GTA: San Andreas – Coming 2025.
