The trailer for the Will Smith slavery film drama, Emancipation on Apple TV+, has been released today.
“This is one of the most powerful stories I’ve EVER told,” said Smith on his YouTube channel. “When I first read the script, the story exploded and blossomed in my heart and I hope it does for you too.”
“Inspired by a true story, one man fights through unthinkable terrors in an attempt to reunite with his family. Will Smith stars in Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua,” explains Apple regarding the Original Film. Fuqua directed the 2001 police drama, Training Day which won Denzel Washington a best actor Oscar.
Emancipation launches in theatres on December 2, but will be streaming on Apple TV+ starting December 9, 2022. The film is 2 hours and 12 minutes long.
Earlier this year, Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards and since then, the actor has kept a low profile. It was unclear if Emancipation was going to see a delayed release as the fallout of Smith’s slap was widespread.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Fuqua shed some light on the release of Emancipation this year.
“It was always a full conversation with Apple. They were very sensitive to myself, to Will, to all the people who worked on the movie,” said Fuqua. “There was never a conversation with me and Apple or my producers, Todd Black and Jon Mone or Heather Washington, about the movie not coming out. It was more about, “We’re assessing everything. We’re seeing what people are saying.” They were very careful about it. Then we showed the film to some people and their reactions were really positive, and we discussed it along the way.”
“Of course I wanted people to see the film,” Fuqua continued. “My conversation was always, “Isn’t 400 years of slavery, of brutality, more important than one bad moment?” We were in Hollywood, and there’s been some really ugly things that have taken place, and we’ve seen a lot of people get awards that have done some really nasty things. So I think Apple considered all those things, and we discussed a lot of those things. Then a decision was made by the people in charge of distribution and the money at Apple—and I’m grateful, I’m really grateful.”
