Back in September, I had written a piece about Will Smith’s potential Oscar dilemma. By now, you all must know that “King Richard” is a major Best Picture frontrunner, and, more importantly, that Smith is destined to win the Best Actor statuette.
However, there might be a major obstacle on his path to Oscar glory. There was a stunning rumor being spread by a rival publicist during the Telluride Film Festival that claimed that Smith wasn’t vaxxed and that’s why he was a no-show at the fest. I took that rumor with a grain of salt.
The months went ahead, “King Richard” consequently screened at the BFI London Film Festival and he was still a no-show. For someone who is a major Oscar contender to refrain from showing up to these fests or campaign, you’d have to think that something is off.
Although I was skeptical, as someone just pointed out to me, a 10.06.21 THR piece entitled “COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: Hollywood Battle Lines Emerge ...” talks about a “high profile star” who was un-vaxxed and got production shut down on a movie in August due to a rampant number of COVID cases plaguing the set.
I did a little more research and, lo and behold, “Emancipation,” in which Smith stars, had, if you can believe it, its production shut down in August due to a flurry of COVID cases.
A little food for thought.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.