Nine months after actor, Will Smith slapped his colleague and comedian, Chris Rock at the Academy Awards the repercussions of his actions are sinking in, as his latest movie, a slave drama, Emancipation was snubbed at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards last week, and bombed at the box office since its premiere.
Ultimately, however, he and Emancipation were snubbed by the Academy. On March 1, at the African American Film Critics Association Awards, Smith gave his first in-person awards acceptance speech since his Oscars controversy.
Despite a committed cast and often stunning cinematography, the film's script is too blunt and the direction too ham-fisted to make Emancipation anything more than another rote—albeit expensive—entry in the slavery-movie genre.
Smith's latest film, “Emancipation”, reportedly is not doing well at the box office. According to Radar Online, since “Emancipation” was released on Dec. 9, the movie that stars the Oscar winning actor as a slave named Peter, has only earned $3,000 per screen.
Emancipation Full Movie Review | Will Smith And Ben Foster
Did Emancipation make money?
According to a report by Radar Online, Will Smith is hurt and angry at Emancipation being snubbed by the 2023 Golden Globes. And the feeling has only intensified with the film's very modest box office grossing. So far the slavery drama, which cost $120 million to make, has only earned an average of $3k per screen.
Movie Reviews By Reviewer Type. [A]s an action, [Emancipation is] not half-bad... But looking at it in the context of a somehow burgeoning field of slave narratives, the lack of nuance feels not only lazy but exploitative. The hollow Emancipation is a mismatch between director and subject.
The cinematography is decent, but it doesn't bring the black and white story to life. Overall, Emancipation is a failed attempt at an oscar bait film that will leave little impression on the viewer. Smith's performance is the highlight, but for all the wrong reasons.
The film, completed months before Smith strode onto the Oscars stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock for a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, was a grueling shoot.
The film has received mixed reviews from critics, who were largely lukewarm on the Apple TV+ drama, though the cast's performances were praised. Emancipation ends with Peter, now free, joining the Union Army after finally being rid of Fassel, who was hunting him for days through the swamp.
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Unlike George C. Scott or Dudley Nichols' refusal, Brando's was specifically designed to court public attention - and it did just that. The trade bibles quickly went to work on Littlefeather's background and ancestry, who claimed that she wasn't Apache at all.
Emancipation had long been considered a strong Oscar-season contender for Apple, though the rollout was disrupted abruptly at this year's Oscars, when Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock mid-broadcast on stage, and subsequently resigned from the Academy.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Will Smith's net worth is $350 million as of 2023. These earnings are thanks to an entertainment career spanning over three decades, from his work as a rapper to his many roles as an actor and producer behind the scenes.
It was reported that Apple, which is distributing Emancipation, discussed delaying the film until 2023 because of the slap, as Smith could be nominated again for his performance.
Director Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith behind the scenes of “Emancipation,” premiering December 9, 2022 on Apple TV+. Imani Pullum and Charmaine Bingwa in "Emancipation," now streaming on Apple TV+.
'Emancipation': $120 Million Will Smith Epic Must Be Making Apple Very Nervous. With the Will Smith backlash growing on a near-daily basis, and the actor even quitting the Academy (before an inevitable expulsion would have happened), Apple TV must be quite nervous right about now.
Multiple scenes with cruel/harsh violence and body horror, including a beheading, mauling, alligators feeding on a dead body, gun violence, and a veiled threat of underage sexual violence.
That Emancipation is somewhat distinguished by being filmed in black-and-white was Fuqua's choice, in order to “drain the color out of the Confederacy,” though there are desaturated “tinted” color accents added with blood, fire, the American flag, and other elements.
As for the amount of violance and all the no-no's of the film, I'd say it'd be appropriate for high schoolers, maybe a little younger. I'd say 99/100 times, there's some violent event happening. Whatever it may be: someone being beaten, a killing, there's always some sort of violence going on in this movie.
Emancipation was inspired by the true story of an enslaved man who became known as Gordon, who was photographed in 1863. The photo of Gordon, which showed severe scarring on his back from being whipped, was often titled “The Scourged Back,” and was published worldwide by Harper's Weekly magazine on July 4, 1863.
