Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua Team on Runaway Slave Thriller ‘Emancipation’

[steadyrighteous]

I never listened to that. That’s an interesting angle will wanted. He wanted it to be more about Django and Broomhilda?

Not only do I think that Will's too safe, I think for as talented as he is, he's not very "creative". I don't think he can "see" something if he doesn't have something else he can directly compare it to. And he's too controlling to let someone lead. Not give over complete control, but trust that somebody else has a vision, and he, as an actor, can add to it and help make it real.

Ever since I heard that story of how he picked his movies during his Movie Star run (studying Box Office and only doing movies that had CG, Aliens etc.), all his choices seem so see through and overly calculated in hindsight and in the present.

So I just had an idea and went through his entire filmography...

In over 30 years of acting Will Smith has only worked with 2 director's who have ever won Oscars for Directing - Robert Redford and Ang Lee. If I'm wrong someone can correct me.



An Oscar isn't the be all and end all, but to have only worked with 2 people who have that to their name says something. I don't know what, but it says something.

 

[MartyMcFly]

Not only do I think that Will's too safe, I think for as talented as he is, he's not very "creative". I don't think he can "see" something if he doesn't have something else he can directly compare it to. And he's too controlling to let someone lead. Not give over complete control, but trust that somebody else has a vision, and he, as an actor, can add to it and help make it real.

Ever since I heard that story of how he picked his movies during his Movie Star run (studying Box Office and only doing movies that had CG, Aliens etc.), all his choices seem so see through and overly calculated in hindsight and in the present.

So I just had an idea and went through his entire filmography...

In over 30 years of acting Will Smith has only worked with 2 director's who have ever won Oscars for Directing - Robert Redford and Ang Lee. If I'm wrong someone can correct me.



An Oscar isn't the be all and end all, but to have only worked with 2 people who have that to their name says something. I don't know what, but it says something.

Well we’ve had that talk before. Will doesn’t work with auteurs who could potentially have more power than him on set. Not saying that’s a bad thing but it’s a thing. There are a lot of set dynamics and who is in charge is one of those dynamics. When there’s an auteur there who, for better or worse, says “my way or the highway” and leaves little room for who is in charge, that clashes with people. I wouldn’t call Redford an auteur at all but he’s good with actors. Ang is, but I have no clue what happened with that damn movie.

 

[Drew Wonder]

Well we’ve had that talk before. Will doesn’t work with auteurs who could potentially have more power than him on set. Not saying that’s a bad thing but it’s a thing. There are a lot of set dynamics and who is in charge is one of those dynamics. When there’s an auteur there who, for better or worse, says “my way or the highway” and leaves little room for who is in charge, that clashes with people. I wouldn’t call Redford an auteur at all but he’s good with actors. Ang is, but I have no clue what happened with that damn movie.

This is what makes Ali such a fascinating movie. It's the one flick in Will's filmography that I think could've benefited from being more crowd-pleasing but Michael Mann had such a somber and subdued approach that lacked the energy for such an energetic figure which I think is a big reason why it didn't resonate with a lot of audiences. I could be wrong but it seems like it was one of the few movies where Will let the director completely do his thing and it backfired

Edit: Actually, Bad Boys II was another one where it was clearly the director's vision. The vision just happened to be from Michael Bay lol

 

[BXKingPin82]

shyt. His younger self was pretty much a slave in that last movie.

 

[Remote]

Fuqua directing on the surface appears like a good move.

"William N. Collage penned the script" -- this is cause for concern. He wrote "Exodus: God's & Kings (2014)" which was widely panned and had a ridiculous white cast.

 

[Sbp]

I'm glad will passed on Django Jamie was better suited for the role.

 

[jwinfield]

This is what makes Ali such a fascinating movie. It's the one flick in Will's filmography that I think could've benefited from being more crowd-pleasing but Michael Mann had such a somber and subdued approach that lacked the energy for such an energetic figure which I think is a big reason why it didn't resonate with a lot of audiences. I could be wrong but it seems like it was one of the few movies where Will let the director completely do his thing and it backfired

Will wanted to make a movie that didn’t offend people.

He didn’t want Spike to do it.

 

[MartyMcFly]

Fuqua directing on the surface appears like a good move.

"William N. Collage penned the script" -- this is cause for concern. He wrote "Exodus: God's & Kings (2014)" which was widely panned and had a ridiculous white cast.

writers don’t always get the respect they deserve for stuff. Not his fault they cast who they cast and we don’t know what changes happened to the script once they got to set. A whole lot of shyt happens from the time they green light it to the time filming begins

 

[obarth]

This is not the way you atone for passing on Django

What is there to atone for?

As has been said, I don't need another slave movie, even if Will gets to kill a bunch of racists. I still haven't watched 12 Years a Slave, despite the part of me that loves great cinema knowing I'm missing out. shyt gets exhausting.

I'm also turned off by the title. It reminds me of Concussion. A generic title about the point of the movie. That's a silly reason, admittedly
I'm a fan of Will and still feel he hasn't reached his full potential as an actor, though.

 

[Robbie3000]

He, correctly, felt that Django was not truly the main character in the movie and wanted the script developed more in Django's direction. The movie is a Christoph Waltz vehicle until the third act.

Will as a rule only does movies where he is the star and it's developed around him.

Same with Denzel. It's why he's declined being a villain in the F&F movies.

Reall? That's his reasoning? Well it seems box office failures and wisdom of age have humbled him a bit.

 

[MikelArteta]

only slave type movies I want to see is like 10 black commandos going back in time and lighting slave masters up

 

[3rd Koast Kang]

Assic status already

 

[Sbp]

A lot of people overlook the fact that Django is 3 different types of movies in 1. A slave movie is the most obvious, a spaghetti western, but it's also a retelling of Robert Wagner's opera Siegfried. The Dr. Telling Django the story on the mountain is basically the plot of the movie. His wife is Brunhilde of course. Django is Siegfried, Steven is the fire breathing dragon,Calvin is Woden. Shultz is the character mime.

 

[Jello Biafra]

Deadshot is also a relatively unknown character outside of the comic book world compared to a character like Harley Quinn (who got more focus). If anyone was going to get a spinoff, then it would be her.

WB alway intended on giving Deadshot a spinoff. Probably still do based on how they made sure to not recast Deadshot in the sequel even when Idris Elba was hired.
If I',m remembering correctly, one of the stories about the role not being recast mentioned WB wanted to keep the role open for him and that he could either play Deadshot in another Suicide Squad sequel or in a solo film.

 

[Jello Biafra]

Not sure why either guy is interested in doing a slave movie.

If Will wanted to do a period piece set around the same time but not focused on the slavery aspect then why not do something like the story of Nat Love, the famous black cowboy (nicknamed Deadwood dikk) or Matthew Henson, the black explorer who was part of the team that discovered the North Pole and is credited as being the first person on the team to actually set foot on what would become known as the North Pole (he planted the US flag there too).

Both men were former slaves but that wasn't the most important detail about who they became in their storied lives.