Apple Original Films has dated the run-from-slavery thriller Emancipation for a December 2 theatrical opening, followed by a December 9 release on its Apple TV+ streaming site.
This follows the film’s first showing in DC on Saturday, with star Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua (who flew in from Italy, where he and Denzel Washington are shooting a third Equalizer film) discussed the fact-based film in a screening orchestrated by Apple and NAACP during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Legislative Conference.
There has been much speculation — and erroneous reporting — as Apple and its filmmakers plotted just what to do with a meaningful film whose status as an awards-season frontrunner changed the moment Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock during the last Oscars, after the comic disparaged his wife with a joke about her hair.
Smith, who shortly after won the Best Actor Oscar, and while the Academy allowed him an acceptance speech, it subsequently banned Smith for a decade for a terrible personal act in the worst possible venue.
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