See A Scarred Will Smith Tease A Monumental Performance In New Movie Trailer
Will Smith is a slave on the run in the first look at Emancipation by the director, Antoine Fuqua.
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Will Smith might currently be banned from the Academy Awards, but he can still be nominated for Best Actor, which could be coming with his new feature. Smith is set to star in Emancipation, which is based on a true story, and now has dropped its first official trailer. Smith will embody the role of a slave during the Civil War, who does what he must to reunite with his family, including experiencing some of the most horrific aspects of life living in Louisiana.
Emancipation follows a man named Peter, who escaped a plantation in Louisiana. Peter is then on the run from his pursuers when he makes his way to the North, where he joins the Union Army. Peter is based on a real-life man named Gordon, who had his whipped-up back photographed and published in 1863, which gave the abolitionist movement proof that slavery was horrifically cruel.
Joining Will Smith in this highly emotional film is Ben Foster, who is set to portray Fassel, the man who is in charge of hunting down Peter. From the above trailer, Emancipation looks spectacular and tense. Peter is shown running and hiding from his would-be captors and also having to fight off a crocodile in the swamps of Louisiana.
That is also not to mention the war aspect of the film, which shows Will Smith’s character fighting off the South, as he is shown using his bayonet and firing at opposing soldiers. As previously mentioned, Smith is not allowed to attend the Academy Awards for 10 years, based on the incident involving Chris Rock, but the man could be in the running for a Best Actor nomination when this film comes out.
Emancipation is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who famously directed Training Day, Southpaw, The Equalizer, and Tears of the Sun. Training Day saw Denzel Washington land a Best Actor Academy Award, which is something that Will Smith is likely wanting to receive again. Despite his slapping incident, Smith landed the Best Actor award for his role in King Richard, and should he win for Emancipation, it would put him on a short list for back-to-back winners.
Emancipation was also written by Bill Collage, who famously wrote the scripts for the Assassin’s Creed adaptation, Allegiant, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Accepted, and Lucky Dog. The combination of Collage and Fuqua could end up paying huge dividends in the award circuit, as Emancipation sure looks like the type of film that is going to draw plenty of critic praise. AppleTV is also the first streamer to win a Best Picture Academy Award, as it did so for CODA, and the company is likely seeking to win again for this new Smith-led feature.
Emancipation is set to hit theaters on December 2nd, with the AppleTV streaming premiere landing on December 9th. The highly anticipated Will Smith-led feature also officially premiered on October 1st in Washington, D.C. With AppleTV pulling in the first streaming app Academy Award, it seems the company is now wanting to bring in more high-profile features, and Emancipation looks to be the kind that could see the streamer take home even more awards this time around.
