The rumors turn out to be false: The slavery drama "Emancipation" will be released on December 9th. Despite a suspension for Will Smith after the scandal slap on the open stage, his new film is qualified for the next Oscars.
For a long time it looked as if the streaming service Apple TV would not release Will Smith's already completed film "Emancipation". After all, the star and this year's Oscar winner slapped comedian Chris Rock on the stage at the Academy Awards, causing a lot of bad press about his person. But now the slavery drama has received an official start date. "Emancipation" will be released worldwide on Apple TV on December 9th. The streaming service also presented a first teaser trailer.
After the slap on the open stage, Will Smith is not allowed to attend the Oscar ceremony for the next ten years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had ordered the 54-year-old. But because "Emancipation" starts in some US cinemas on December 2nd, the film is theoretically even qualified for next year's Oscars. The liberation story, which is partly a gripping survival thriller, is in principle also an excellent Oscar candidate.
In "Emancipation," Will Smith plays Peter, a slave who flees through the swamps of Louisiana in 1863 to join the Union Army and win his freedom. Relentless, racist hunters are always on his heels as he escapes. The film is inspired by one of the most famous photos from the American Civil War era. It shows the back of the so-called "Whipped Peter", disfigured by numerous lashes from his slave owners. The recording, known as "The Scourged Back," significantly influenced public opinion in the Northern States in the 1860s, proving beyond any doubt the inhuman cruelty of slavery.
There had previously been rumors that Apple was holding back the civil war drama that was said to have cost around $120 million and had already been completed. The release was originally planned for autumn.
