Will Smith is getting again on his toes, months after his notorious Oscars slap.
Whereas the 54-year-old actor has largely been staying out of the limelight since he smacked presenter Chris Rock on the ceremony earlier this yr, he has a brand new venture within the works that’s already creating buzz.
Smith’s first post-Oscars movie, titled “Emancipation,” had a particular screening hosted by the NAACP in the course of the Congressional Black Caucus Basis’s 51st Annual Legislative Convention on Oct. 1.
The drama stars Smith as a runaway slave named Peter who discovered asylum in Louisiana and winds up becoming a member of the Union Military.
Apple dropped a trailer for the movie Monday and introduced the film will open in theaters on Dec. 2 and stream on Dec. 9 forward of the awards season.
The movie earned early reward on the occasion, with the “King Richard” star making an look.
“All through my profession, I’ve turned down many movies that have been set in slavery,” Smith famous on the screening, reported the Hollywood Reporter. “I by no means wished to indicate us like that. After which this image got here alongside. And this isn't a movie about slavery. It is a movie about freedom. It is a movie about resilience. It is a movie about religion.”
“It is a movie concerning the coronary heart of a person — what could possibly be referred to as the primary viral picture,” the daddy of three added.
An 1863 picture of the enslaved man with scars on his again from being closely whipped “grew to become some of the extensively circulated pictures of slavery of its time,” Historical past.com reported. Known as “The Scourged Again” or “Whipped Peter,” it was utilized in campaigns by abolitionists in efforts to finish slavery.
“Cameras had simply been created, and the picture of ‘Whipped Peter’ went all over the world,” Smith famous. “It was a rallying cry in opposition to slavery, and this was a narrative that exploded and blossomed in my coronary heart that I wished to have the ability to ship to you in a method that solely [director] Antoine Fuqua might ship.”
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson praised the movie in a tweet after the occasion.
“I had the pleasure of watching the movie #Emancipation and might’t start to inform how highly effective that is for OUR neighborhood and OUR historical past,” Johnson mentioned. “It’s a narrative of adversity, of resilience, of affection, and of triumph. Thanks Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith for sharing your items! #ThisIsPower.”
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