Sam Amico
For the first time since the Slap Heard ‘Round the World, Will Smith will be on the big screen.
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It’s true, as Smith will star in the new movie, Emancipation, set to hit theaters in November.
Yes, that means the movie will be eligible for a Grammy, giving Smith another chance to take the stage. Last time, he went viral.
Emancipation marks Smith’s first movie since he walked on the Oscars stage and slapped host Chris Rock over a joke Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife. And the movie has the look of a winner, based on the recently released trailer.
It co-stars Ben Foster, Steven Ogg and Charmaine Bingwa.
Smith will portray a man named Peter, who escapes slavery in Louisiana during the Civil War, travels north, and joins the Union Army. The movie is inspired by real-life events.
Will Smith in Emancipation
“Throughout my career, I’ve turned down many films that were set in slavery. I never wanted to show us like that, you know, and then this picture came along, and this is not a film about slavery,” Smith said during a private screening at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference, via The Hollywood Reporter.
“This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience.”
Eventually, we will all move on from the incident involving Smith and Rock. This film could be the first step down that path.
“I will not be afraid. What can a mere man do to me?” Smith’s character Peter said in the trailer. “I will look in triumph at my enemies.”
