Actor Will Smith said he would `totally understand` if moviegoers are not `ready` to see his new movie, `Emancipation` after he slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars earlier this year. According to Fox News, a US-based news outlet, the first new Smith movie to be released after the actor hit Chris Rock in the face on stage at the awards ceremony in March 2022 is Antoine Fuqua`s new drama `Emancipation`.

Fuqua directed Training Day, which won Denzel Washington an Oscar. After the comic made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith hit Rock. Smith has apologised twice and quit as an Academy member since the event, for which he was chastised. In a recent interview with a FOX 5 DC reporter, the actor stated that he would understand "if folks were not prepared to see his film" as a result of his slap at the Oscars.