Will Smith cancels production in Georgia | Stage

NEW YORK – Will Smith and director Fuqua have removed from Georgia the production of the drama of slaves who escaped “Emancipation” because of the recently adopted state electoral law that restricts access to voting.

The film is the largest and most prominent production in Hollywood that has left the state since the Republican-controlled state legislature passed the law.

The statute introduced stricter requirements for voter identification for absentee voting, limited the number of polling stations and gave the State Electoral Committee new powers to intervene in county polling stations and to remove and replace local electoral authorities. Opponents of the law say it is designed to have an impact on minority voting.

In a joint statement, Smith and Fuqua – who are the producers of the project – said they were committed to withdrawing production from Georgia.

“We cannot provide financial support with a clear conscience to a government that adopts regressive electoral laws that are designed to restrict voter access,” Smith and Fuqua said. “Georgia’s new election laws are reminiscent of the electoral impediments that were passed at the end of the Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting.”

“Emancipation” was set to begin filming in June. Apple Studios bought the film last year through a transaction that would have reached 130 million dollars. Based on a true story, the film stars Smith as a slave who escapes from a Louisiana plantation and joins the Union Army.

Hollywood’s response to Georgia’s law has been closely watched, as the state is a major center for film production and prides itself on generous tax incentives. Some directors have said they will boycott the law, including Ford v. Ferrari director James Mangold.

But the older studios were largely quiet. In 2019, an anti-abortion law in Georgia (which was later declared unconstitutional) led studios to threaten to stop producing in the state.