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Earlier this week, after months of speculation, AppleTV+ released the first trailer and announced the release date for Emancipation, the upcoming slavery drama that stars Will Smith and is directed by Antoine Fuqua(Training Day).
What makes the film notable — other than the fact that it’s based on the true story of Gordon (a.k.a “Whipped Peter”) — is that it’s Smith’s first film to be released following his Oscars night slap of comedian Chris Rock, which turned what should’ve been a career-defining night (as he took home the Academy Award for Best Actor) into what may be one of the lowest moments of Smith’s life.
Obviously, Apple doesn’t seem to think that the general public is all that put off by Smith given their decision to not even wait until a year had passed since The Slap to release the film. One person who probably does question this decision, though, is actress Mila Kunis, as she recently detailed in an interview that she thought it was “insane” that people were applauding Smith as he took the stage on that infamous night.
Mila Kunis says it was “insane” that people at the Academy Awards clapped for Will Smith when he accepted the award for Best Actor
“The idea of leading by example only makes sense when you actually have someone to lead. We have our tiny little tribe here at home, and never once do I want to tell them to do something if I’m not willing to do it myself,” when explaining to C Magazine why she and her husband Ashton Kutcher didn’t clap for Smith.
“Not standing up to me was a no-brainer, but what was shocking to me was how many people did stand up. I thought, wow, what a time we’re living in that rather than do what’s right, people focus on doing what looks good. It’s insane to me.”
As mentioned above, it was recently confirmed that Emancipation will hit theaters on Friday, December 2 before streaming on AppleTV+ on Friday, December 9.
In addition to Smith, Emancipation stars Ben Foster, Steve Ogg, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, Mustafa Shakir, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Blevis, Jayson Warner Smith, and more.
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