Apple’s Will Smith Quandary
Will Smith is the star of “Emancipation,” a film set during the U.S. Civil War era that Apple envisioned as an Academy Award contender when it wrapped filming earlier this year. But that was before Mr. Smith strode onto the stage at the Academy Awards in March and slapped the comedian Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Mr. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Mr. Smith has since surrendered his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and has been banned from Academy-related events, including the awards telecast, for the next decade.
Now Apple finds itself with a $120 million unreleased awardsstyle movie featuring a star no longer welcome at the Academy Awards show, and a big question: Can the film overcome the controversy?
According to three people involved with the film who spoke on condition of anonymity, there have been discussions inside Apple to release “Emancipation” by the end of the year, which would make it eligible for awards consideration. Variety reported in May, however, that the release would be pushed into 2023.
When asked how and when it planned to release “Emancipation,” Apple declined to comment.
Should the company postpone the film because its leading man is too toxic? Or does Apple
A possible Academy Award contender, at least before the slap.
release the movie and watch the outcome unfold? Audiences could be turned off by Mr. Smith, perhaps taking some gloss off the Apple brand. Or they could respond positively to the film, prompting an Academy Award campaign, which could upset members of the academy.
“Emancipation,” directed by Antoine Fuqua and with a script by William Collage, is based on the true story of an escaped slave who joined the Union Army to fight against his former captors. It finished filming about a month before the 2022 Academy Awards telecast in March and was already generating 2023 awards talk when Mr. Smith slapped Mr. Rock.
Though Mr. Smith can still be nominated for his work, the reaction to the slap means the chances for “Emancipation” have dimmed exponentially.
Some in the film industry said that releasing “Emancipation” this year will only anger Academy voters who were embarrassed by Mr. Smith’s actions.
Stephen Gilula, the former cochief executive of Fox Searchlight, said releasing the film in the awards corridor between now and the end of the year would put undue pressure on the movie and make the slap the center of the conversation.
“Regardless of the quality of the movie, all of the press, all the reviewers, all of the feature writers, all the awards prognosticators are going to be looking at it and talking about the slap,” Mr. Gilula said.