Several other projects that Will Smith was going to be a part of have either been delayed or outright canceled in the last few months.
Will Smith voluntarily relinquished his membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and he’s been banned from attending the Oscars ceremony for the next decade.
This makes any movie Smith is associated with, and he’s a producer on Emancipation as well as its star, a complicated Oscar contender at best.
As Deadline points out, the movie was never given an official release date, so there technically isn’t a delay happening here.