Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have withdrawn their “Emancipation” from Georgia’s runaway slavery because the state recently enacted laws restricting voting rights.

This film is the largest and most compelling Hollywood film released since the Republican State Assembly in Georgia passed a law that introduced stricter identification requirements for absentee voters and limited delivery. Box, and gave the State Election Commission new powers to intervene in the county elections office and remove and replace local election officials.

Opponents say the law aims to reduce the influence of minority voters. Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement as the producers of the two projects that they felt compelled to move production out of Georgia.

Smith and Fuqua said: “We cannot conscientiously financially support the government enacting a return voting law designed to restrict voter entry.” “The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting.”

Originally, “Emancipation” was scheduled to begin filming in June. Apple Studios reportedly bought the film for $ 130 million last year. According to the true story, the film uses Smith as a slave, escapes from a plantation in Louisiana, and joins the Coalition Army. 

Hollywood’s response to Georgia’s laws has been closely followed because the state is an important center for film production and enjoys generous tax incentives. Some filmmakers have said they will boycott it, including “Ford v. Ferrari” director James Mangold. But until now, the major studios have basically been silent. In 2019, Georgia’s anti-abortion law (later declared unconstitutional) led studios to threaten to stop producing movies in the state.