Apple to release ‘Emancipation,’ with Will Smith, in Dec.

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — After holding it in limbo following Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, Apple will release the actor’s next big project, “Emancipation,” in December. The fate of “Emancipation” — a $120 million runaway slave thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua — had been uncertain following Smith’s smack of the comedian. One of Apple’s most high-profile productions yet, the film had once been expected to be a potential Oscar contender this year. But an awards-season rollout of a film headlined by Smith, who the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years, has obvious complications. Apple TV+ will debut “Emancipation” on Dec. 2 in theaters and stream it Dec. 9.