Apple Acquires Will Smith's Emancipation Film At Fantastic Price

JAKARTA - The battle for streaming services with the big screen has begun to surface. This time, Apple has won the broadcast rights for the Emancipation film from a number of production houses, namely Warner Bros, Lionsgate, MGM, and Universal.

Starring Will Smith, the film Emancipation was offered by various production houses after entering the Cannes sales market. Apple managed to buy this film for a fantastic price of more than 120 million United States (US) dollars.

After entering the Cannes market, 7 companies bid for the Emancipation film. When the bid reached $ 75 million, only Apple and Warner Bros. remained.

However, Warner Bros. stopped bidding after Apple set a price over 100 million. The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, is the biggest-grossing film in film history.

Emancipation is a film about an escaped slave named Peter who goes to the Union Army during the Civil War. War photos taken by Peter show scars on his back that were released in 1863 as a cruel form of slavery.

Although it has been purchased by Apple, production will only take place in early 2021. Emancipation is produced by Westbrook Studios, McFarland Entertainment, Escape Artists.

In addition, the collaboration between Will Smith and Apple is also the latest collaboration after Apple hosted the documentary film Dads in which Will was one of the stars.

Apple began producing films to strengthen Apple TV services. Before Emancipation, there was the film Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks, which will open on July 10 on Apple TV.