Release details and material for Apple TV+’s forthcoming historical drama Emancipation have been unveiled today. After his Oscar-winning performance as the father of tennis professionals Serena and Venus Williams in King Richard, Will Smith is set to return to the realm of feature filmmaking with the project he will both lead and produce. Based on a true event, the Civil War-era film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), and will follow Peter, an escaped slave (Smith). The preview shows that the film is expertly made and features many breathtaking scenes. Since Peter mentions President Lincoln’s recent passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, the decree declaring enslaved people were now free, we rapidly discover that the narrative takes place during the violent middle years of the Civil War.
The news spurs Peter to action, and he quickly sets off towards the North in search of his family. However, Peter and his loved ones face several threats on their journey through the Louisiana swamps, including ruthless and merciless hunters on their tails. Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, Mustafa Shakir, Steven Ogg, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Bivens, Jayson Warner Smith, Jabbar Lewis, Michael Luwoye, Aaron Moten, and Imani Pullum are all set to feature in the show. William N. Collage’s “Emancipation” was inspired by the series of photographs “Whipped Peter” that appeared in the issue of Harper’s Weekly released in 1863.
The public’s revulsion for slavery was greatly aided by the dissemination of graphic depictions of its dehumanising horrors. Smith will be joined in producing for Westbrook Studios by Jon Mone, Joey McFarland of McFarland Entertainment, and Todd Black of Escape Artists. The show’s executive producers are Fuqua, Chris Brigham, James Lassiter, Heather Washington, Cliff Roberts, Glen Basner, and Scott Greenberg. The video was shown privately over the weekend at the 51st annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, DC, before today’s big announcements.
Many organisations were represented at the event, including the Congressional Black Caucus, HBCUs, the Divine 9, HBCU sororities, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Power Rising, and #WinWithBlackWomen in addition to Fuqua and Smith. Naturally, the picture will stand out to many readers since it is Smith’s first appearance since he apologised for assaulting Chris Rock at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. A powerful work of filmmaking and narrative, its release timing suggests that its backers are hoping for a nomination or two from the academy and that Smith’s headline-making activities will be forgotten. Watch it on December 2 at select cinemas or on December 9 on Apple TV+.