Will Smith went on quite a bender of media last month and early this one. He went around not apologizing for anything and trying to get people to watch his $100 million movie, “Emancipation.”
It didn’t work.
The Antoine Fuqua directed black and white movie (literally) about a tragic true story of a Civil War era slave has been a bust.
On Rotten Tomatoes, critics slammed it, with a 45% rotten rating. But even worse, audiences posting to Rotten Tomatoes gave “Emancipation” a lowly 56%. No one liked it.
“Emancipation” is playing on Apple TV Plus now, long gone from theaters after its one week eligibility run. Eligible for what, one might ask? Awards groups have ignored it, and the movie will just fall into ignominy. How much is the write off? Apple will never say, but the whole thing was a disaster.
Was the film rejected solely because of Smith’s egregious behavior last spring at the Oscars? No. It was also because the movie just wasn’t good. But the reaction to it was definitely a signal that no one is willing to forgive and forget any time soon.
