The last Oscars was a rocky night for Will Smith. The actor grabbed most of his headlines for slapping Chris Rock right on the Oscars stage, but he also won the Academy Award for Best Actor on the same night. At next year’s Oscars, Will Smith will not be present in person, but he may still be present in the spirit of his next movie, Releasewill be eligible for nomination.
The exact fate of the new film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, has been unclear for months. While the movie was expected to be an award contender, no official release date has been set, either for theatrical release or on Apple TV+, so we didn’t know if it would actually release this year. However, we know that now Release It will see a theatrical release on December 2, and it will follow on Apple TV + December 9. The news came with the movie’s first trailer, which you can watch above.
Given that many of Will Smith’s other film projects have been put on hold since the events of this year’s Oscars, it’s no surprise that Apple isn’t quite sure how to best handle them. Releaserelease. Early reports suggest the movie is really good, but one wonders what kind of response it will get from the Academy just because it’s Will Smith’s next year’s ‘Slap’.
If Will Smith’s performance in Release Cool, and based on that trailer, could well, be talked about in the Best Actor race. Of course, this conversation is getting harder now. Smith’s nomination in the year after he slapped someone on the show would be a controversial move. It only becomes more controversial if he’s going to win, considering he’s been banned from attending the Oscars for the next decade, so he wouldn’t even be there to accept the award or give a speech.
At the same time