slap in the face Will Smith a Chris Rock at the Oscars continues to rumble in Hollywood, and Apple is at a crossroads. The newspaper “New York Times reports that those from Cupertino still do not know what to do with emancipationa drama based on the American Civil War starring and co-producing Smith himself for Apple TV+.
The report states that the California-based company is yet to figure out what decision to make regarding the film, which wrapped filming a month before the scandal at the Dolby Theater in March last year.
On the one hand, there are rumors that the film He has great potential to compete at the Oscars. On the other hand, he fears a negative reaction to the presence of Will Smith from the public, the press and, mainly, the Academy. It is even mentioned that there are doubts about how to approach the advertising campaign to promote its hypothetical launch.
When emancipation It’s one of the most difficult processes for Apple, from landing to producing and distributing TV shows and movies. By the looks of things, the Apple Ones have stuff in their hands that could steal a good part of the eye for next awards season. But they’re afraid of making headlines for the wrong reasons.
Report New York Times Quote to Stephen Gilula, the former CEO of Fox Searchlight, who spoke out on the matter. “Regardless of the quality of the film, all the press, critics, writers and award forecasters will see it and talk about the slap in the face. There is a very high risk that the film will not be judged on its pure merits. in a very volatile context,” he said.
If the people of Cupertino are intent on taking advantage of Antoine Fuqua’s feature film starring Will Smith in the face of possible Oscar nominations, they will have to launch it on Apple TV+ before the end of the year. Another position is to wait until 2023 for its launch, which Diversity he already mentioned as a very big opportunity last May.
Apple is faced with a dilemma over the new movie Will Smith
One of the biggest dilemmas Apple will face will be quality. emancipation. According to The newspaper “New York Timesearlier this year, the company held a test screening in Chicago which received overwhelmingly positive reviews., both from the film itself and from Will Smith’s game. He also mentions that after being slapped by Chris Rock, a survey of visitors did not change their views on the artist’s work.
Although the Academy banned Will Smith from the Oscars for the next 10 years, he can still be nominated for awards befitting his work. However, if the potential success emancipation on Apple TV+ means a new Oscar nomination for Best Actor, the consequences of his absence could generate unwanted publicity. Not to mention that apart from the conflicts, he was declared the winner and did not attend the ceremony.
If Apple refuses to release the film this year and delays it until 2023, it won’t be the first time it has made such a decision. He already did this in 2019 when he delayed the launch Banker for allegations of sexual harassment against the son of one of his producers.
What is still unknown is whether there is a realistic chance that the new Will Smith film will never see the light of day. After all, let’s not forget that after the episode with Chris Rock, several of the actor’s projects were canceled or suspended. The situation did not improve even after his last apology.
