Scott Feinberg has an eye-opening piece over at THR where he surveyed over 50 Academy members and their thoughts on Will Smith’s “comeback.” The biggest takeaway: people are still pissed off at Smith.
Would they vote for him? I counted around 53 participants in this “poll” and only about 13 said they would vote for the actor if his performance was worthy. Not a good ratio. Many admitted they wouldn’t mark him on their ballot, even if his “Emancipation.” performance was great and deserving.
Most of the Oscar voters polled are still very angry about how he “dishonoured” the Academy with the slap heard around the world. The vast majority of the responses seem to be: They'll vote for the film itself in other categories, if it's worthy, but there's no way they'd vote for Smith.
My take: Will Smith will needs to amp up that apology tour this fall. Maybe a one-hour special with Oprah, add in a televised therapy session with Dr. Phil and then an Oscar campaign can commence. His excuse for an apology a few months ago, on instagram, was itself a slap in the face to our intelligence.
Regardless, Apple should and will release the $120 million costing “Emancipation” on December 2nd. There is no point in delaying it any further. It’s that simple. You don’t think there will be an audience for this movie? You’d be surprised. It’ll be seen by many on Apple TV. We are, after all, an impeccably curious specie.
People are now more interested in Smith than they have been in years. Hell, I bet an inordinate amount of his haters will likely stream “Emancipation,” just out of sheer curiosity. Call it a hate-watch.
Earlier this year, Smith was himself slapped with a 10-year ban by the Academy, he now can’t attend any Oscar-related event until 2033. The irony about the AMPAS‘ ban is that people like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey are technically still not banned from the Oscars.
Of course, I’ll watch “Emancipation”. The Oscar slap happened, but what’s the point of pretending I’m still outraged by it. The guy is a good actor and if he can dive deeply into the skin of his character in “Emancipation,” then who cares.