Will Smith’s Emancipation Sold to Apple TV+ for Over $120 Million 6l6l6r Report

An action thriller about a runaway slave during the American Civil War-era. 454t3y

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 2 July 2020 11:12 IST

Photo Credit: Matt Petit/AMPAS 66m6r

Will Smith

Highlights

Second biggest deal after Killers of the Flower Moon
First in theatres, before arriving on Apple TV+ globally
Emancipation plans to begin production in early 2021

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Will Smith's next movie — Emancipation — is headed to Apple TV+. Apple has reportedly committed over $120 million (about Rs. 906 crores) to pick up Emancipation, an American Civil War-era action thriller about a runaway slave (Smith) who must outwit Confederate hunters and the unforgiving swamps of the US state of Louisiana to make his way north, where he can the Union Army. There, a photo of his bare back — known as “The Scourged Back” — became undeniable proof of the cruelty of slavery. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) will direct Emancipation for Apple, based on a script by Willam N. Collage (Exodus: Gods and Kings).

Apple TV+ worldwide.

Emancipation will be closer in tone to DiCaprio-led The Revenant or the Mel Gibson-directed Apocalypto, than the Steve McQueen-helmed 12 Years A Slave. Fuqua hopes to begin production on Emancipation in early 2021. Smith will resume filming on tennis biopic King Richard as soon as it's allowed, with Emancipation the next thing. That will be followed by Bright 2, the sequel to the Netflix fantasy action movie.

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Smith will also produce Emancipation alongside his Westbrook Studios partners James Lassiter and Jon Mone, in addition to Joey McFarland of McFarland Entertainment, Todd Black of Escape Artists, and Apple Studios. Fuqua will serve as an executive producer through his Fuqua Films banner, with Cliff Roberts.

For Apple, Emancipation s a growing film slate that includes the aforementioned Greyhound, Killers of the Flower Moon, the Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell-led musical A Christmas Carol, the comedy-drama On the Rocks that reunites Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray, the Mahershala Ali-starrer genre-bending drama Swan Song, the young adult book adaptation The Sky Is Everywhere, the Julianne Moore-starrer con artist flick Sharper, and the animated adventure Wolfwalkers.

Can Netflix force Bollywood to reinvent itself? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS. You can also the episode or just hit the play button below.

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