Deadline is reporting Antoine Fuqua will direct Will Smith in Emancipation, a Willam N. Collage-scripted action thriller about the harrowing escape of Peter, a runaway slave forced to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey North. There he joined the Union Army.
The thriller is based on a true story, fueled by an indelible image; when Peter showed his bare back during an Army medical examination, photos were taken of the scars from a whipping delivered by an overseer on the plantation owned by John and Bridget Lyons that nearly killed him. When the photo known as “the scourged back” was published by the Independent in May, 1863 and then in Harper’s Weekly‘s July 4 issue, it became indisputable proof of the cruelty and barbarity of slavery in America. The photo reached around the world, and legend has it that it made countries like France refuse to buy cotton from the South. It solidified the cause of abolitionists and prompted many free blacks to join the Union Army.
The film will use all that as historical background, but at heart it is an action thriller with a powerful emotional core that involves Peter’s death-defying journey to escape his captors. Using onions to mask his scent from pursuing bloodhounds, and his strength and smarts to survive running barefoot through the swamps for 10 days, the tale takes a turn reminiscent of such survival tales as the Mel Gibson-directedApocalypto. Smith, James Lassiter and Jon Mone will serve in a producorial capacity through Westbrook Studios, with McFarland Entertainment’s Joey McFarland and Escape Artists’ Todd Black. Fuqua will executive produce under his Fuqua Films banner, alongside Cliff Roberts.
The intention is to begin production early 2021. Fuqua is completing the drama Infinite, while Smith was in the process of shooting King Richard when production was halted by the coronavirus pandemic. They will complete those projects before plunging into the slavery tale. CAA Media Finance, which arranged the financing for the film, will represent U.S. rights, and FilmNation Entertainment is representing international sales when the package is introduced at the virtual Cannes market.
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