Producer Joey McFarland began researching the story in 2018, and hired Collage to write the script. The film was officially announced in June 2020, with Fuqua to direct and Smith to star. Filming was in Louisiana between July and August 2021, with Apple paying US$130 million to acquire the rights to the film, outbidding several other studios.
It was screened in Washington, D.C., on October 1, 2022, and released in select cinemas on December 2, 2022, then streamed on December 9 on Apple TV+. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Smith's performance, but criticized the screenplay and its handling of real-life events.
In a cotton plantation in 1863, Peter is seen sitting on the floor of a house knelt before his wife, Dodienne, alongside their children sitting around him. Suddenly, a group of white men appear at the doorway and snatch a reluctant Peter out of the house, with him putting up a fight until one of the men points a gun at his wife’s head. Peter is then hit in the back of his head, put into a cage at the back of a carriage, and is taken away from his family to a different site. He shouts to his wife and children that he will come back and they should stay together. On his journey, he sees slaves working at the roadside and the heads of killed slaves on poles. Peter is then sent to work on constructing a railroad in Clinton, Louisiana.
The slaves are treated with cruelty by white guards and their boss, Fassel. They are whipped, set upon by dogs, branded and dragged by horses if they try to run away or shot if they stop working because of exhaustion. Peter tells the disheartened slaves to just believe in God and pray.
One day, Peter has had enough, and he uses an opportune moment to fight back at the white men along with other slaves. They escape and run away, while being chased by the white men on horseback and vicious dogs. One slave is unable to swim across a river due to fear of alligators and is caught. After revealing the other slaves’ locations to Fassel, he is then freed and tries to cross the river, but he is then shot and later eaten by the gators. The three remaining men split up and go about their separate ways. Peter has many close encounters with being found, but somehow manages to stay hidden from his enslavers. When Peter is close to Baton Rouge, Fassel catches to him and is about to shoot him, when he is suddenly shot in the head by a Black member of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard.
Peter is taken to a hospital to recover. A photograph of his back is then taken and is vowed to be shown all over the world to aid the end of slavery. Peter then decides to join the army to help free his family. After a victorious battle against Confederate soldiers, he returns to various cotton plantations to free the slaves, while also reuniting with Dodienne and their children. In the epilogue, the text states that it is thanks to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that by 1865, over 4 million slaves have been freed.
On June 15, 2020, it was reported that Antoine Fuqua would direct Will Smith in Emancipation, based on a spec script written by William N. Collage.[9] Producer Joey McFarland, who had started researching and developing the film in 2018, recruited Collage to write the script.[10] Fuqua said:
It's almost two years now from when I first read the script. It hit my heart and my soul in so many ways that are impossible to convey but I think you understand. We're watching some of the feeling that I had, in the streets right now. There's sadness, there's anger, there's love, faith and hope ... That's important to see, and the most hopeful thing that I'm seeing, that they're not going to stand for it anymore.[9]
Principal photography was expected to begin on May 3, 2021, in Los Angeles.[15] It was later set to begin on June 21, 2021, in Georgia,[16] but on April 12, it was announced that the film would be shot elsewhere due to the recently-enacted Election Integrity Act of 2021. Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement: "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access."[16][17] The location move was reported to have cost approximately $15 million.[16] Filming was announced to take place in New Orleans from July 12 to August 21, 2021.[18] On August 2, filming paused for five days due to several positive COVID-19 tests.[19] Additional casting for the film was announced in November and December.[20][21]
The film score is by Marcelo Zarvos, who described the music as "spiritual and untraditional" as per Fuqua's suggestions.[22] He employed a 70-piece orchestra, a 40-member choir, and soloists from around the world, for traditional American and African sounds. The soundtrack was released by Lakeshore Records on December 9, 2022.[23]
Release
A screening of Emancipation was held at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 51st Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., on October 1, 2022, with Smith and Fuqua in attendance to give a subsequent Q&A discussion.[24] It was screened in Los Angeles, on October 24, 2022.[25] The film premiered in theaters on December 2, 2022, and was streamed on Apple TV+ on December 9.[26]
In May 2022, the film's release was reportedly delayed to a tentative 2023 date, due to numerous production delays, the controversy over Smith slappingChris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards, and an overcrowded film release schedule from Apple.[27] It was subsequently moved to its final date.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 154 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Emancipation works as an action movie – albeit one that's uncomfortably at odds with its awkward handling of the real-life events that inspired its stirring story."[28]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[29] The slap incident has influenced some reviews, which talk about the movie against a backdrop of the slap and Smith's possible redemption in Hollywood.[7]
Accolades
Accolades received by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
