»Emancipation« with Will Smith: Apple is caught in a slap dilemma

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Will Smith's slap in the face for Chris Rock: ban from the Oscars - with consequences

Photo: Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The battle for positions in the ever-shrinking TV streaming market continues to escalate, especially in view of customers' purchasing power concerns.

In order to convince them, exclusive, spectacular content is still the silver bullet.

Apple seemed to have found something very special for its Apple TV+ streaming service, which maintains the image of not having such a high throughput of new content, but instead focusing on quality.

The Apple-distributed deaf drama »Coda«, for example, won the Oscar for best picture.

On the rights market at the Cannes Film Festival, which could only take place virtually in 2020, the slave drama "Emancipation" was one of the most sought-after projects.

»Blickpunkt:Film« reported at the time that Apple had »first thrown studio competitors such as Universal, MGM and Lionsgate out of the race« and finally even outbid Warner Bros.

The purchase price for the rights to the film by director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") was 120 million dollars in the end - but after all, one of the most popular actors of all was intended for the leading role: box office guarantor Will Smith.

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»Whipped Peter« during a medical examination in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1863: key image in the fight against slavery

Photo: McPherson & Oliver / Heritage Images / Getty Images

The film's plot is based on the true story of a fugitive slave who escaped from a cotton plantation in Louisiana in the 1860s and was to fight on the side of the Northern States against the slave-owning states in the Civil War.

The man was nicknamed "Whipped Peter": the image of his whip-scarred back featured in "Harper's Weekly" convinced public opinion for the abolitionists who wanted to abolish slavery.

Historical material often has a good chance at film prizes such as the Academy Awards;

According to reports, Apple planned to bring "Emancipation" to the cinemas before the film should adorn the streaming service - best of all with awards.

»Will Smith wins the double«

Filming should begin in early 2021.

There were complications and delays caused by the corona pandemic, but also by hurricanes that raged at the location near New Orleans.

Despite everything: About a month before the Oscars were to be awarded in Hollywood in March 2022, the film was finished.

Before the gala, an industry expert is said to have said: "Will Smith wins the double" – meaning his roles as the leading actor in "King Richard" (2022) and "Emancipation".

And then came the slap.

Projects involving Will Smith were quickly shelved at Netflix and Sony.

The repentant actor resigned from the Academy, and the Academy in turn suspended Smith from the Oscars and its other events for ten years.

Nothing was heard from Apple.

It was only in May that the specialist magazine Variety wanted to know that Apple had actually planned Emancipation for the next Oscar campaign, but had now decided that the film should not run on the streaming platform until 2023.

While there was no official confirmation, the source cited by Variety called it "the unspoken truth."

Not a word about the slap - not even as a joke

Since then, there have still been no uttered truths about "emancipation" from Apple's side, not even at the request of the "New York Times", which recently researched the topic.

Three people involved with the company's plans had said anonymously that Apple was discussing bringing the film to theaters before the end of the year in order to qualify it for film awards season.

Apple didn't want to say anything about that - or anything else about "Emancipation".

Apparently the film is too good to sink.

At least that's what the New York Times reporter claims to have learned from three sources who reported on a test screening in Chicago, to which the audience is said to have reacted "volcanically".

In the feedback session, viewers would not have felt offended by Will Smith's behavior at the Oscars.

The Academy, however, is different.

Bill Kramer, the new chairman of the body, is said to have recently told a group of journalists that he didn't want to hear anything about Will Smith and the slap in the face at the next Oscars, not even as a joke.

You want to put it behind you and have Oscars that celebrate cinema.

A film submitted by a streaming service and also starring Will Smith might not be convenient.

In any case, film professor Stephen Galloway, who was interviewed by the »New York Times« on the subject, does not see a good solution.

If Apple withholds the film, it could damage the company's reputation.

If she releases the film, that could also be harmful to Apple.

"Hollywood loves win-win situations," explains Professor Galloway.

"This is a lose-lose situation."

Feb