Apple held the first private screening of the Will Smith-led and Antoine Fuqua-directed thriller “Emancipation” on Saturday night, a film whose release fate remains unclear at this time.
Both Smith and Fuqua made their first public comments about the film in a follow-up discussion after the screening held during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st annual Legislative Conference in Washington DC.
While Apple has not set a date as yet, the fact that it is being screened is being seen as a direct indication that the film will arrive in time for this year’s awards season.
William N. Collage pens the film which follows an enslaved man who, after recovering from a whipping that nearly killed him, braved the swamps of Louisiana armed with only his wits to escape cold-blooded slave hunters and be free.
Before the Oscar slap that led to Smith being banned from the Academy for a decade, “Emancipation” had been considered a prime awards season contender, with Apple winning the rights in a record-breaking auction.
Source: Deadline
