Will Smith’s Emancipation Holds Private Screening for Influencers

Apple Original Films held a screening of Emancipation for a group of influencers in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night. The period drama/survival epic based on true events was directed by Antoine Fuqua, and when packaged at the Cannes Film Market in 2020, it sparked a bidding war between Warner Bros., Universal, MGM, and Lionsgate. Apple ultimately came away victorious, and, with an A-lister playing the lead of an escaped slave known as Whipped Peter fighting his way to freedom through the Louisiana swamp, it looked as though they had a natural contender for awards consideration as well as wide public interest. That was, of course, before “The Slap.” Emancipation stars Will Smith, who kinda-sorta lost his cool in a very public manner earlier at the Academy Awards this year, hitting Chris Rock across the face and requesting the comic cease speaking about Jada Pinkett Smith. (He didn’t phrase it that way.) Lucky for Smith, he won his Best Actor trophy for King Richard in the brief window after assaulting Rock and before anyone could figure out how to react. While the actor resigned from the Academy and is persona non grata at the Oscars ceremony for 10 years, the question remains if the public can divorce Will Smith’s actions from his acting, or if they’ll even much care. Apple tested the waters a bit on Saturday, and the response was positive. A screening was held at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st annual Legislative Conference, hosted by the NAACP. Representatives from a number of groups like the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the National Council of Negro Women, and the Divine 9 (alumni of fraternities and sororities from Historically Black Colleges and Universities) were in attendance. Policy advocate and ESPN commentator Angela Rye held a post-screening Q&A with Smith, Fuqua, and Mary Elliott, curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Clearly, Apple recognizes they have a big movie on their hands. When they’ll actually release this thing, which was originally shot with this year’s awards season in mind, remains a question mark. In his first comments about the movie, Smith said he had been resistant to slave stories throughout his entire career. “This is not a film about slavery,” Smith told the crowd. “This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience. This is a film about faith.” He also spoke about how the image of Whipped Peter was arguably the first viral photograph in history. Twitter content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. Social media commentary from the invited guests was abundantly positive.

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