Will Smith's first movie since Oscar 2022 slap incident to be released in December

Hollywood star Will Smith's historical drama Emancipation is all set to be released on December 2.

On Monday, Apple shared the update by unveiling the film's trailer.

In the trailer, Smith is seen essaying the role of a slave who flees from the clutches of plantation owners.

Emancipation premieres in theatres on December 2 and will stream on Apple TV+ starting December 9, Variety reported.

Though Emancipation had originally been set for a 2022 release date, Apple elected to delay the film to 2023 after Smith became embroiled in controversy for slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards.

The Antoine Fuqua directed drama's teaser was released with a description that read, "An enslaved man embarks on a perilous journey to reunite with his family in this powerful film inspired by a true story."

In an interview with Deadline, Antoine Fuqua said, "It felt incredible. This was really our first time experiencing it with a complete film and an audience. To watch people react, gasping, talking and commenting on things that were happening in the film, really all the things you hope your movie would do for an audience. It moved them, entertained them. We had a great conversation about the subject matter that was important to them. So, yeah, it was pretty amazing."

"We need to know truth to begin the healing. We have a lot of healing to do here, but if we can look at the film with open hearts and open minds, and have a real conversation about the ugly brutality and reality of slavery, that might help with the healing. I think it is important for people to see that," he added.

Emancipation is written by Bill Collage and produced by Todd Black, Joey McFarland and Jon Mone.

• Americas