Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor and Mustafa Shakir have joined the cast of Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming thriller “Emancipation,” starring Will Smith.
Smith stars as Peter, a runaway slave who flees Louisiana in hopes of traveling north to freedom. “Emancipation” is inspired by the true story of “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved person who emancipated himself from a southern plantation and joined the Union Army. In 1863, photos taken of Peter during an Army medical examination first appeared in Harper’s Weekly. One image, known as “The Scourged Back,” shows the scars from a whipping on Peter’s bare back, illustrating the true cruelty of slavery and ultimately contributed to growing public opposition.
Fuqua will direct from a script by William N. Collage. Fuqua Films and Smith’s media company Westbrook Inc. are backing the project, which sold to Apple Studios for a reported $120 million.
Foster stars opposite Smith, playing Fassel,...
Smith stars as Peter, a runaway slave who flees Louisiana in hopes of traveling north to freedom. “Emancipation” is inspired by the true story of “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved person who emancipated himself from a southern plantation and joined the Union Army. In 1863, photos taken of Peter during an Army medical examination first appeared in Harper’s Weekly. One image, known as “The Scourged Back,” shows the scars from a whipping on Peter’s bare back, illustrating the true cruelty of slavery and ultimately contributed to growing public opposition.
Fuqua will direct from a script by William N. Collage. Fuqua Films and Smith’s media company Westbrook Inc. are backing the project, which sold to Apple Studios for a reported $120 million.
Foster stars opposite Smith, playing Fassel,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
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