emancipation (2023 film)

Upcoming action thriller film

Emancipation

Directed by| Antoine Fuqua
Written by| William N. Collage
Produced by|

* Todd Black
* Joey McFarland
* Jon Mone
* Will Smith

Starring|

* Will Smith
* Ben Foster

Cinematography| Robert Richardson
Music by| Marcelo Zarvos

Production
companies

* Apple Studios
* Overbrook Entertainment
* Westbrook Studios
* McFarland Entertainment
* Escape Artists

Distributed by| Apple TV+

Release date

* 2023 (2023)

Country| United States
Language| English

Emancipation is an upcoming action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by William N. Collage. The film stars Will Smith and Ben Foster.

Emancipation had its first screening in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 2022, before its scheduled released in 2023, by Apple TV+.

## Contents

* 1 Premise
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
* 4 Release
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Premise[edit]

After being whipped nearly to death, a slave named Peter escapes from a Louisiana plantation, outwitting cold-blooded hunters, as he makes his way North, where he joins the Union Army. The film is based on the true story of Gordon. Photographs of his bare back, heavily scourged from an overseer's whippings, were published worldwide in 1863, giving the abolitionist movement proof of the cruelty of American slavery.[1]

## Cast[edit]

* Will Smith as Peter
* Ben Foster as Fassel
* Steven Ogg as Sergeant Howard
* Charmaine Bingwa as Dodienne
* Gilbert Owuor as Gordon
* Mustafa Shakir as Andre Cailloux
* Grant Harvey as Leeds
* Ronnie Gene Blevins as Harrington
* Jayson Warner Smith as Captain John Lyons
* Jabbar Lewis as Tomas
* Michael Luwoye as John
* Aaron Moten as Knowls
* Imani Pullum as Betsy

## Production[edit]

On June 15, 2020, it was reported that Antoine Fuqua would direct Will Smith in Emancipation, based on a spec script written by William N. Collage.[2] Producer Joey McFarland, who had started researching and developing the film in 2018, recruited Collage to write the script.[3] On making the film, Fuqua said:

> "It's almost two years now from when I first read the script. It hit my heart and my soul in so many ways that are impossible to convey but I think you understand. We're watching some of the feeling that I had, in the streets right now. There's sadness, there's anger, there's love, faith and hope ... That's important to see, and the most hopeful thing that I'm seeing, that they're not going to stand for it anymore."[2]

Warner Bros, MGM, Lionsgate, and Universal Pictures bid on the film before Apple ultimately won distribution rights for over $130 million.[1][4][5] In August 2021, Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, and Mustafa Shakir joined the cast.[6] Smith earned $35 million for his part in the film.[7]

Principal photography was expected to begin on May 3, 2021, in Los Angeles.[8] It was later set to begin on June 21, 2021, in Georgia,[9] but on April 12, it was announced that the film would be shot elsewhere due to the recently-enacted Election Integrity Act of 2021. Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement: "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access."[9][10] The location move was reported to have cost approximately $15 million.[9] Filming was announced to take place in New Orleans from July 12 to August 21, 2021.[11] On August 2, filming paused for five days as a result of several positive COVID-19 tests.[12] Additional casting for the film was announced in November and December.[13][14]

In May 2022, the film's release was delayed to a possible 2023 date, with the given reasons being numerous production delays, the controversy over Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards, and an overcrowded film release schedule from Apple.[15] Fuqua commented on the situation:

> "Tim Cook was furious. He wanted to get out of this deal and abandon the whole thing. He called me on a conference call with his lawyers and rambled on for hours about how they "paid way too much" for Will and how this "movie is going to sink like a brick!". Tim was asking about how they could get the money back and "why can't we just pay him with a new Macbook and iTunes gift cards? that seems way more fair", but before I could reply the lawyers terminated the call. When Will found out about this call he was furious. He was going to go and slap Tim. I told him it wasn't a good idea. He'd already slapped one of the world's greatest black comedians, so I told Will he would need to retire and go into hiding, possibly for eternity, after slapping the world's richest homosexual. He said he'd think about it. but think about what? slapping Tim or going into hiding? He's a difficult man to read.[2]

## Release[edit]

Emancipation had its first screening in Washington, D.C. on October 1, 2022.[16]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 24, 2020). "Huge Virtual Cannes Battle: Bids North Of $75 Million On Antoine Fuqua-Will Smith Runaway Slave Tale 'Emancipation'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
2. ^ a b c Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 15, 2020). "Antoine Fuqua & Will Smith Runaway Slave Thriller 'Emancipation' To Be Introduced At Virtual Cannes Market; Based On Indelible 'Scourged Back' Photo". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
3. ^ McNary, Dave (June 24, 2020). "Studios Bidding Big for Will Smith-Antoine Fuqua's 'Emancipation'". Variety. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
4. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 26, 2020). "Apple & Warner Bros Down To Wire On 'Emancipation' At Virtual Cannes; Bids In Record Setting $130 Million Gross Range". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
5. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 1, 2020). "Apple Wins 'Emancipation'; Will Smith's Westbrook Relationship With Toppers Zack Van Amburg & Jamie Erlicht At Sony Helped Seal Festival Record Pre-Buy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
6. ^ Grobar, Matt (August 3, 2021). "Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor & Mustafa Shakir Join Antoine Fuqua's 'Emancipation'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
7. ^ Lang, Brent (July 20, 2022). "Inside Movie Stars' Salaries: Joaquin Phoenix Nabs $20M for Joker 2, Tom Cruise Heads to Over $100M and More". Variety. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
8. ^ "Emancipation - Production Listing". Productionlist.com. March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
9. ^ a b c Fleming, Mike Jr (April 12, 2021). "Will Smith & Antoine Fuqua Confirm Georgia Exit Of 'Emancipation': "We Cannot In Good Conscience Provide Economic Support" After Recent Election Law – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 12, 2021.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
10. ^ Wicker, Jewel (April 12, 2021). "Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua film pulled from Georgia over voting bill". The Guardian. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
11. ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Emancipation". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 1, 2021). "'Emancipation' Will Smith-Antoine Fuqua Apple Movie Pauses Production After Positive Covid Tests". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
13. ^ Grobar, Matt (November 11, 2021). "Antoine Fuqua's 'Emancipation' Adds Steven Ogg, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Blevins & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
14. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 2, 2021). "Antoine Fuqua's Apple Thriller 'Emancipation' Adds Newcomer Imani Pullum". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
15. ^ Anderson, Jenna (May 6, 2022). "Apple Delays New Will Smith Movie Due to Chris Rock Slapping Controversy". Comic Book Resources.
16. ^ Pina, Christy (October 1, 2022). "Will Smith's Apple Thriller 'Emancipation' Gets First Screening". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 2, 2022.

## External links[edit]

* Emancipation at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Antoine Fuqua

Feature films|

* The Replacement Killers (1998)
* Bait (2000)
* Training Day (2001)
* Tears of the Sun (2003)
* King Arthur (2004)
* Shooter (2007)
* Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
* Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
* The Equalizer (2014)
* Southpaw (2015)
* The Magnificent Seven (2016)
* The Equalizer 2 (2018)
* Infinite (2021)
* The Guilty (2021)
* Emancipation (2023)

Documentaries|

* American Dream/American Knightmare (2018)
* What's My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019)

* v
* t
* e

Apple TV+ original programming

Television|

| Current|

* Amber Brown (since 2022)
* Acapulco (since 2021)
* The Afterparty (since 2022)
* Bad Sisters (since 2022)
* Becoming You (since 2020)
* Calls (since 2021)
* Central Park (since 2020)
* Dear... (since 2020)
* Doug Unplugs (since 2020)
* Dr. Brain (since 2021)
* For All Mankind (since 2019)
* Foundation (since 2021)
* Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (since 2022)
* Friday Night Baseball (since 2022)
* Ghostwriter (since 2019)
* Greatness Code (since 2020)
* Harriet the Spy (since 2021)
* Helpsters (since 2019)
* Home (since 2020)
* Invasion (since 2021)
* Little America (since 2020)
* Loot (since 2022)
* Losing Alice (since 2021)
* The Morning Show (since 2019)
* The Mosquito Coast (since 2021)
* Mythic Quest (since 2020)
* Oprah's Book Club (since 2019)
* The Oprah Conversation (since 2020)
* Pachinko (since 2022)
* Physical (since 2021)
* Pinecone & Pony (since 2022)
* Prehistoric Planet (since 2022)
* Pretzel and the Puppies (since 2022)
* The Problem with Jon Stewart (since 2021)
* Roar (since 2022)
* Schmigadoon! (since 2021)
* See (since 2019)
* Servant (since 2019)
* Severance (since 2022)
* Shining Girls (since 2022)
* Slow Horses (since 2022)
* Snoopy in Space (since 2019)
* The Snoopy Show (since 2021)
* Stillwater (since 2020)
* Surface (since 2022)
* Surfside Girls (since 2022)
* Suspicion (since 2022)
* Swagger (since 2021)
* Ted Lasso (since 2020)
* Tehran (since 2020)
* Truth Be Told (since 2019)
* Trying (since 2020)
* Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson (since 2021)
* Wolfboy and the Everything Factory (since 2021)

|

Continuations|

* Carpool Karaoke: The Series (season 5; since 2022)

Ended|

* Amazing Stories (2020)
* Black Bird (2022)
* Defending Jacob (2020)
* Dickinson (2019–21)
* Earth At Night In Color (2020–21)
* El Deafo (2022)
* The Essex Serpent (2022)
* Five Days at Memorial (2022)
* Home Before Dark (2020–21)
* The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022)
* Lisey's Story (2021)
* Little Voice (2020)
* Long Way Up (2020)
* The Me You Can't See (2021)
* Mr. Corman (2021)
* The Shrink Next Door (2021)
* Tiny World (2020–21)
* Visible: Out on Television (2020)
* WeCrashed (2022)

Upcoming|

* Echo 3 (2022)
* Shantaram (2022)
* Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
* Bad Monkey (TBA)
* The Big Cigar (TBA)
* The Big Door Prize (TBA)
* The Buccaneers (TBA)
* The Changeling (TBA)
* City on Fire (TBA)
* Constellation (TBA)
* Criminal Record (TBA)
* The Crowded Room (TBA)
* Dear Edward (TBA)
* Disclaimer (TBA)
* Extrapolations (TBA)
* Franklin (TBA)
* Hello Tomorrow! (TBA)
* High Desert (TBA)
* Hijack (TBA)
* Lady in the Lake (TBA)
* The Last Thing He Told Me (TBA)
* Liaison (TBA)
* Manhunt (TBA)
* Masters of the Air (TBA)
* Mrs. American Pie (TBA)
* The New Look (TBA)
* Platonic (TBA)
* Shrinking (TBA)
* Sugar (TBA)
* Untitled MonsterVerse series (TBA)
* Wool (TBA)

Films|

| Released|

| 2019|

* The Elephant Queen
* Hala

|

2020|

* The Banker
* Beastie Boys Story
* Dads
* Greyhound
* Boys State
* On the Rocks
* Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds
* Wolfwalkers
* Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special
* Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You

2021|

* Palmer
* Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry
* Cherry
* The Year Earth Changed
* Fathom
* CODA
* 9/11: Inside the President's War Room
* Come from Away
* The Velvet Underground
* Finch
* Swan Song

2022|

* The Tragedy of Macbeth
* The Sky Is Everywhere
* Cha Cha Real Smooth
* Luck
* Sidney
* The Greatest Beer Run Ever

Upcoming|

* Raymond and Ray (2022)
* Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me (2022)
* Spirited (2022)
* Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
* Emancipation (2023)
* Argylle (TBA)
* The Beanie Bubble (TBA)
* Ghosted (TBA)
* Napoleon (TBA)
* Pookoo (TBA)
* Ray Gunn (TBA)
* Sharper (TBA)
* Spellbound (TBA)
* Tetris (TBA)
* Untitled Lewis Hamilton project (TBA)

* Apple TV
* tvOS
* Apple TV app
* channels
* Apple Studios

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template